Reassessing the roles of the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong and the rulers in the making of international treaties

Malaysia continuously negotiates, signs and ratifies international treaties to foster closer relationships with its counterparts. The Federal Constitution of Malaysia provides no direct provision in granting treaty-making capacity to a specific person(s) or institution(s). However, it may be deduced from the available provisions that such power is exercisable by the executive arm of the Federal Government. By definition, the executive includes the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, who is elected among the Malay Rulers by the Conference of Rulers. This paper reassesses the roles and functions of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Rulers in the making of international treaties. The study was carried out using library based research method which assessed the provisions of the Federal Constitution, local case(s) and international conventions, in particular the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969. The paper delved into the available legal documents to explain the functions of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Rulers under the Federal Constitution and accordingly reassessed the legal positions of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Rulers in the making of international treaties. The findings of this paper showed that in practice, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Rulers have no executive powers to conclude and sign international treaties. Nonetheless, the Federal Constitution does confer certain limited powers on the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Rulers that may indirectly influence the making of international treaties where their roles are normally consultative in nature

Living a corporate lifestyle: The application of 'body corporate' under Islamic institutions in Malaysia

Businesses are not alien to Islam for it has been the practice of Prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h. The Holy Prophet himself was a successful trader. In Islam, particularly the Arab countries, they refer the entity carrying out the businesses and commercials as ‘syirkah’ vis-à-vis corporation or company under Western concept. Whilst the Western distinguishes company from partnership, syirkah in Islam refer to both company and partnership.Nevertheless, the different types of these syirkah are reflected in the diversity of their categories, which comprised of al-‘inan, al-abdan, mudharabah, wujuh and mudharabah. The essential part of a syirkah is that it is contractbased,where individuals came together and entered into a contract with an agreement to distribute the profits amongst themselves. Individuals are the backbone of a syirkah in Islam. Whereas, a company in the conventional system focuses on the concept of body corporate rather than natural human being, i.e. individuals. In this modern world, the applications of the notion ‘body corporate’ are also integrated into some of Islamic institutions including those that were established in Malaysia. The Islamic institutions are now leading a corporate way of lifestyle. This paper will highlight some of the Islamic institutions in Malaysia and the analysis of legal provisions which set them up as corporate entities. In the same parallel also, the author will identify the rights and criteria arising from such body corporate – and the Islamic perception on such corporate lifestyle

Penahanan Kapal Equanimity: Tercabarkah undang-undang admiralti Malaysia?

Penahanan kapal mewah Equanimity milik Jho Low oleh pihak berkuasa Indonesia di perairan Bali pada tahun 2018 telah menarik perhatian dunia. Penahanan kapal ini bertujuan untuk menyelesaikan siasatan kes pelaburan di Amerika Syarikat melibatkan 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Rentetan penahanan kapal ini, kemampuan undang-undang admiralti Malaysia dan bidangkuasa Mahkamah Admiralti Malaysia telah diuji. Dengan menggunakan pendekatan secara diskriptif dan kajian perpustakaan, fokus utama artikel ini ialah menganalisa peruntukan prosedur undang-undang penahanan kapal dan bidang kuasa Mahkamah Admiralti di Malaysia. Analisa kronologi penahanan Equaminity, Aturan 70 Kaedah-Kaedah Mahkamah 2012 dan Seksyen 24(b) Akta Mahkamah Kehakiman 1964 (Akta 91) disentuh dalam perbincangan ini. Hasil perbincangan ini mendapati penahanan kapal Equaminity adalah sah dan bidang kuasa Mahkamah Admiralti dan Aturan 70 Kedah-Kaedah Mahkamah 2012 Malaysia adalah mencukupi. Malah penahanan kapal Equanimity juga secara tidak langsung telah memartabatkan keupayaan undang-undang admiralti dan Mahkamah Admiralti di Malaysia di mata dunia

Complicity in corruption among government's enforcement agency: an analysis of local news report

The practice of corruption involving public servant, especially among government enforcement agencies, regularly attracts widespread coverage from local news report because their affairs implicate public interest in general. The government enforcement agencies that are regularly associated with corrupt practices are the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) the Immigration Department of Malaysia (IDM), and the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (RMCD). This working paper analyses the complicity of the main government enforcement agencies, namely RMP, IDM and RMCD, in corrupt practices as reported in the local news involving detention, arrest, prosecution and conviction of corruption cases among members of RMP, IDM and RMCD from 2017 until Jun 2018. The findings from this working paper show that cases on the arrest, detention and prosecution for corruption offences involving the government enforcement agencies take place almost every month throughout the year as reported in the local news. They involve the smallest amounts of graft to millions of ringgit in bribe value, and from the lower-rank members to the senior officers of the relevant department

Separate legal entity under Syariah law and its application on Islamic banking in Malaysia: A note

The principle of separate legal entity – that is, after the incorporation of a company, it is regarded as an artifi cial person or juridical person who has the rights and responsibilities similar to a living person - has been widely accepted and applied in the world of business, trade and industry. In Malaysia, an Islamic banking institution is incorporated under the Companies Act 1965 where after its incorporation, it becomes a legal entity separated from its members and shareholders. In the case of Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad v. Adnan bin Omar (1994), the court held that Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad is a corporate institution created by statute. This case has been decided based on civil law system, not under the Islamic legal system. Since the products offered by an Islamic banking institution is solely in harmony with Islamic principles, one fundamental legal question yet to be resolved is whether the principle of separate legal entity is recognised under the Syariah law. This paper aims to discuss the issue of separate legal entity in Islam and its application to the Islamic banking institutions

Rehabilitation of abandoned housing project by purchasers in Peninsular Malaysia: Problems and challenges

Abandoned housing projects are pathetic phenomena occurring in housing industry in Peninsular Malaysia.Considerable housing projects have been identified as being abandoned and have shuddered to a halt.There are several methods to rehabilitate abandoned housing projects.One of these is the rehabilitation carried out by purchasers.The paper entitles as to the above, will be based on documentations and archival records of qualitative case study in nature, through a legal perspective, intends to explore and penetrate the legal phenomena and problems in the rehabilitation of an abandoned housing project in Peninsular Malaysia, through the initiative of purchasers. From this paper it is hoped that certain findings in regard to their legal problems of the said project could be identified and legal approaches toward their rehabilitations can be established in the said housing project for future guidelines and suggestions to overcome the same, if similar case were to happen. These will hopefully, to some extent, assist the authorities concerned (such as the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, local authorities, developer and financiers) to adopt legal policies and take certain legal measures to rehabilitate abandoned housing projects in Peninsular Malaysia

Tingkahlaku Etika Pegawai-Pegawai Imigresen di Kedah dan Perlis (S/O 13728)

Amalan tidak beretika seperti salahlaku rasuah melibatkan penjawat awam, khususnya di kalangan agensi penguatkuasa kerajaan, sering mendapat perhatian berita tempatan kerana urusan mereka melibatkan kepentingan awam secara keseluruhan. Antara agensi penguatkuasaan utama di Malaysia ialah Polis Di Raja Malaysia (PDRM), Jabatan Kastam Diraja Malaysia (JKDM), Jabatan Imigresen Malaysia (JIM), Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan (JPJ), Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) dan Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan (PBT) yang berada di bawah portfolio kementerian yang berlainan. JIM merupakan agensi penguatkuasa di bawah Kementerian Dalam Negeri yang bertanggungjawab mengawal pintu masuk ke sempadan negara dan hal-ehwal yang berkaitan. Mengambilkira peranan dan tanggungjawab JIM terhadap keselamatan negara, kajian ini dijalankan dengan memfokus kepada tingkah laku etika pegawai-pegawai JIM di Kedah dan Perlis yang bertanggungjawab mengawal pintu masuk negara di bahagian utara tanahair. Objektif utama kajian ini ialah mengkaji tahap tingkahlaku etika pegawai-pegawai JIM di Kedah dan Perlis. Rekabentuk kajian secara tinjauan rentas telah digunakan dalam kajian ini. Kutipan data melibatkan pengedaran soal selidik. Responden kajian ini ialah para pegawai imigresen yang masih bertugas di kedua-dua negeri. Sebanyak 306 soal selidik telah dianalisis. Kajian ini menggunakan pengukuran Defining Issue Test (DIT) untuk mengukur tingkahlaku etika. Secara am, dapatan kajian menunjukkan skor min tahap tingkahlaku etika para pegawai imigresen berada pada tahap pasca konvensional dengan indeks P DIT sebanyak 46.80 atas skor maksima 100. Dapatan menunjukkan tiada perbezaan yang signifikan dalam aspek tingkahlaku etika di antara lelaki dan wanita. Kajian mendapati terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan di antara responden yang telah didedahkan kepada pendidikan etika melalui seminar berbanding dengan mereka yang tidak pernah mendapat pendedahan. Turut didapati bahawa kesemua pemboleh ubah bebas yang diambil kira dalam kajian ini berkecenderungan mempengaruhi tingkahlaku secara negatif kecuali umur, pendedahan kursus etika semasa di Institusi Pengajian Tinggi serta pengetahuan dan pemahaman mengenai kod etika. Pengetahuan dan pemahaman terhadap kod etika pegawai imigresen serta pendedahan kursus etika melalui seminar didapati mempengaruhi tingkahlaku etika pegawai imigresen secara signifikan. Kajian juga mendapati bahawa tahap pengetahuan dan pemahaman terhadap kod etika di kalangan pegawai imigresen adalah agak tinggi. Daripada hasil kajian ini, adalah dicadangkan kursus mengenai etika pegawai imigresen perlu terus dipertingkatkan dan peruntukan dalam kod etika bagi pegawai imigresen diperkukuhkan lagi