Malaysia 1957 Constitution (reviewed 2007)

SECOND SCHEDULE. [Article 39]

PART 1. CITIZENSHIP BY OPERATION OF LAW OF PERSONS BORN BEFORE MALAYSIA DAY [Article 14 (1)(a)]

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1. Subject to the provisions of Part III of this Constitution and anything done thereunder before Malaysia Day, the following persons born before Malaysia Day are citizens by operation of law, that is to say:
   1. every person who immediately before Merdeka Day, was a citizen of the Federation by virtue of any of the provisions of the Federation of Malaya Agreement, 1948, whether by operation of law or otherwise;
   2. every person born within the Federation on or after Merdeka Day and before October, 1962;
   3. every person born within the Federation after September, 1962, of whose parents one at least was at the time of the birth either a citizen or permanently resident in the Federation, or who was not born a citizen of any other country;
   4. every person born outside the Federation on or after Merdeka Day whose father was a citizen at the time of his birth and either was born in the Federation or was at the time of the birth in service under the Government of the Federation or of a State;
   5. every person born outside the Federation on or after Merdeka Day whose father was a citizen at the time of the birth if the birth was, or is within one year of its occurrence or within such longer period as in any particular case was or is allowed by the Federation or, if it occurred in Singapore, Sarawak, Brunei or North Borneo, registered with the Federal Government.
2. A person is not a citizen by virtue of paragraph (b) or (c) of subsection (1) if, at the time of his birth, his father, not being a citizen, possessed such immunity from suit and legal process as is accorded to an envoy of a sovereign power accredited to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

1. Subject to the provisions of Part III of this Constitution, a person ordinarily resident in the State of Sabah or Sarawak or in Brunei on Malaysia Day is a citizen by operation of law if he was immediately before that day a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies, and either-
   1. was born in the territories comprised in the States of Sabah or Sarawak; or
   2. became such a citizen by registration in those territories or by or in consequence of naturalisation there.

PART 2. CITIZENSHIP BY OPERATION OF LAW OF PERSONS BORN ON OR AFTER MALAYSIA DAY [Article 14(1)(b)]

1. Subject to the provisions of Part III of this Constitution, the following persons born on or after Malaysia Day are citizens by operation of law, that is to say:
   1. every person born within the Federation of whose parents one at least is at time of the birth either a citizen or permanently resident in the Federation; and
   2. every person born outside the Federation whose father is at the time of the birth a citizen and either was born in the Federation or is at the time of the birth in the service of the Federation or of a State; and
   3. every person born outside the Federation whose father is at the time of the birth a citizen and whose birth is, within one year of its occurrence or within such longer period as the Federal Government may in any particular case allow, registered at a consulate of the Federation or, if it occurs in Brunei or in a territory prescribed for this purpose by order of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, registered with the Federal Government; and
   4. every person born in Singapore of whose parents one at least is at the time of the birth a citizen and who is not born a citizen otherwise than by virtue of this paragraph; and
   5. every person born within the Federation who is not born a citizen of any country otherwise than by virtue of this paragraph.

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1. A person is not a citizen by virtue of paragraph (a), (d) or (e) of section 1 if, at the time of his birth, his father, not being a citizen, possesses such immunity from suit and legal process as is accorded to an envoy of a sovereign power accredited to the Yang di- Pertuan Agong, or if his father is then an enemy alien and the birth occurs in a place under the occupation of the enemy.
2. In section 1 the reference in paragraph (b) to a person having been born in the Federation includes his having been born before Malaysia Day in the territories comprised in the States of Sabah and Sarawak.
3. For the purposes of paragraph (e) of section 1 a person is to be treated as having at birth any citizenship which he acquires within one year afterwards by virtue of any provisions corresponding to paragraph (c) of that section or otherwise.

PART 3. SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS RELATING TO CITIZENSHIP [Article 31]

The Minister

1. 1. The functions of the Federal Government under Part III of this Constitution shall be exercised by such Minister of that Government as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong may from time to time direct, and references in this Schedule to the Minister shall be construed accordingly.
   2. A decision of the Federal Government under Part III of this Constitution shall not be subject to appeal or review in any court.
   3. (Repealed).

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1. 1. The Minister may delegate to any officer of the Federal Government or, with the consent of the Ruler or Yang di-Pertua Negeri of any State, to any officer of the Government of that State, any of his functions under Part III of this Constitution or this Schedule relating to citizenship by registration and the keeping of registers, and, in relation to orders under paragraph (c) of Clause (1) of Article 25 or under Article 26, any of his functions under Article 27 prior to determining whether to make such an order; but any person aggrieved by the decision of a person to whom the functions of the minister are so delegated may appeal to the Minister.
   2. The Minister may also, with the consent of the Yang di-Pertuan Negeri of the State, delegate to an authority of the State of Sabah or Sarawak (subject or not to conditions providing for an appeal from that authority to the Minister) any of the Minister’s functions under Clause (6) of Article 28A which are not required to be delegated by Clause (7) of that Article.
   3. Subsection (1) shall apply to enrolments under Clause (2) of Article 19A* [note – this article has been repealed] as it applies to citizenship by registration, and to the cancellation under Clause (4) of Article 19A* [note – this article has been repealed] of an enrolment under that Article as it applies to an order under Article 26.
2. (Repealed).

Functions of Minister

1. 1. Subject to federal law, the Minister may make rules and prescribe forms for the purpose of the exercise of his functions under Part III of this Constitution.
   2. Any power of the Federal Government to extend, for purposes of Part III of this Constitution, the period for registering a birth occurring outside the Federation may be exercised either before or after the registration has been affected.
   3. (Repealed).
   4. Any notice to be given by the Minister to any person under Article 27 may be sent to that person at his last known address, or, in the case of a person under the age of twenty-one years (not being a married woman), to his parent or guardian at the last known address of the parent or guardian; and if an address at which notice may be sent to any person under this section is not known and cannot after reasonable inquiry be ascertained, the notice may be given by publication in the Gazette.

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1. 1. It shall be the duty of the Minister to compile and maintain-
      1. a register of citizens by registration;
      2. a register of citizens by naturalisation;
      3. a register of persons to whom certificates have been issued under Clause (1) of Article 30;
      4. a register of persons who have renounced or been deprived of citizenship under any provision of Part III of this Constitution;
      5. (Repealed).
      6. an alphabetical index of all persons referred to in paragraphs (a) to (d).
   2. References in this section to citizens by registration or by naturalisation shall be construed in accordance with Article 28 as if this section were included among the provisions to which that Article applies.
2. If the Minister has reason to believe that an error appears in any register compiled under section 10, he shall, after giving notice to the person concerned and after considering such representations from him as he may choose to make, make such alteration on the register as appears to the Minister to be necessary to correct the error.
3. Subject to section 11, the said register shall be conclusive evidence of the matters therein contained.
4. (Repealed).
5. (Repealed).
6. (Repealed).

Offences

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1. It shall be an offence punishable with imprisonment for two years or a fine of one thousand ringgit or both for any person-
   1. knowingly to make any false statement with a view to inducing the Minister to grant or refuse any application under Part III of this Constitution, including any application to determine whether the applicant is a citizen by operation of law; or
   2. to forge or without lawful authority alter any certificate, whether issued or granted in the Federation or elsewhere, or without lawful authority use or have in his possession any certificate which has been so forged or altered; or
   3. to fail to comply with any requirement imposed upon him by any rules made under section 6 with respect to the delivering up of certificates;
   4. to personate or falsely represent himself to be or not to be a person to whom a certificate, whether issued in the Federation or elsewhere, has been duly issued or granted.
2. In this section “certificate” means any certificate of the following descriptions issued under Part III of this Constitution that is to say:
   1. any certificate of registration or of naturalisation as a citizen; and
   2. any certificate of registration effected at a consulate of the Federation or elsewhere outside the Federation; and
   3. any such certificate as is mentioned in Article 30.

Interpretation

1. 1. For the purposes of Part III of this Constitution references to a person’s father or to his parent, or to one of his parents, are in relation to a person who is illegitimate to be construed as references to his mother, and accordingly section 19 of this Schedule shall not apply to such a person.
   2. In relation to an adopted child whose adoption has been registered under any written law in force in the Federation, including any such law in force before Merdeka Day, Clause (3) of Article 15 shall have effect as if for the reference to his father there were substituted a reference to the adopter, and references in that Clause and section 9 of this Part of this Schedule to his parent shall be construed accordingly.
   3. Any reference in Part III of this Constitution to the status or description of the father of a person at the time of that person’s birth shall, in relation to a person born after the death of his father, be construed as a reference to the status or description of the father at the time of the father’s death; and where that death occurred before and the birth occurs on or after Merdeka Day, the status or description which would have been applicable to the father had he died after Merdeka Day shall be deemed to be the status or description applicable to him at the time of his death. This section shall have effect in relation to Malaysia Day as it has effect in relation to Merdeka Day.
   4. For the purposes of Part I or II of this Schedule a person born on board a registered ship or aircraft shall be deemed to have been born in the place in which the ship or aircraft was registered, and a person born on board an unregistered ship or aircraft of the Government of any country shall be deemed to have been born in that country.
   5. For the purposes of Part I and II of this Schedule any new born child found exposed in any place shall be presumed, until the contrary is shown, to have been born there of a mother permanently resident there; and if he is treated by virtue of this section as so born, the date of the finding shall be taken to be the date of the birth.
   6. For the purposes of Part I or II of this Schedule a person shall be treated as having been at any time permanently resident in the Federation if, but only if, he was then resident in the Federation and either-
      1. he then had permission, granted without limit of time under any federal law, to reside there; or
      2. it is certified by the Federal Government that he is to be treated for those purposes as a permanent resident in the Federation.

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1. 1. In calculating for the purposes of Part III of this Constitution any residence in the Federation-
      1. a period of absence from the Federation of less than six months;
      2. a period of absence from the Federation for the purposes of education of such kind, in such country and for such time as may from time to time be either generally or specially approved by the Minister;
      3. a period of absence from the Federation for reasons of health;
      4. a period of absence from the Federation on duty in the service of the Federation or of any State, where such period is not inconsistent with the essential continuity of such residence; and
      5. a period of absence from the Federation for any other cause prescribed generally or specially by the Minister,

      shall be treated as residence in the Federation.

   2. In calculating for the purposes of Part III of this Constitution any residence in the Federation-
      1. a period during which a person was not lawfully resident in the Federation;
      2. a period spent as an inmate of any prison or as a person detained in lawful custody in any other place, other than a mental hospital, under the provisions of any written law of the Federation; and
      3. a period during which a person is allowed to remain temporarily in the Federation under the authority of any pass issued or exemption order made under the provisions of any written law of the Federation relating to immigration,

      shall not, except in the case of any period referred to in paragraph (c), with the consent of the Minister, be treated as residence in the Federation.

   3. For the purposes of Part III of this Constitution a person shall be deemed to be resident in the Federation on a particular day if he had been resident in the Federation before that day and that day is included in any period of absence referred to in subsection (1).
   4. This section shall apply in relation to any part of the Federation and the territories comprised in that part before Malaysia Day as it applies in relation to the Federation as a whole, and the reference in subsection (1) (d) to the service of a State shall include, in relation to those territories, the service of any Government having jurisdiction therein before Malaysia Day; and in relation to Malaysia Day or any later day subsection (3) shall apply as if the territories comprised in the States of Sabah and Sarawak had at all times formed part of the Federation.
2. For the purposes of Part III of this Constitution “consulate of the Federation” includes any office exercising consular functions on behalf of the Federation.
3. Except in so far as the context otherwise requires, references in this Schedule to Part III of this Constitution are to be read as including references to this Schedule.