Malaysia 1957 Constitution (reviewed 2007)

PART II. FUNDAMENTAL LIBERTIES

5. Liberty of the person

1. No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty save in accordance with law.
2. Where complaint is made to a High Court or any judge thereof that a person is being unlawfully detained the court shall inquire into the complaint and, unless satisfied that the detention is lawful, shall order him to be produced before the court and release him.
3. Where a person is arrested he shall be informed as soon as may be of the grounds of his arrest and shall be allowed to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of his choice.
4. Where a person is arrested and not released he shall without unreasonable delay, and in any case within twenty-four hours (excluding the time of any necessary journey) be produced before a magistrate and shall not be further detained in custody without the magistrate’s authority:Provided that this Clause shall not apply to the arrest or detention of any person under the existing law relating to restricted residence, and all the provisions of this Clause shall be deemed to have been an integral part of this Article as from Merdeka Day:

   Provided further that in its application to a person, other than a citizen, who is arrested or detained under the law relating to immigration, this Clause shall be read as if there were substituted for the words “without unreasonable delay, and in any case within twenty-four hours (excluding the time of any necessary journey)” the words “within fourteen days”:

   And provided further that in the case of an arrest for an offence which is triable by a Syariah court, references in this Clause to a magistrate shall be construed as including references to a judge of a Syariah court.

5. Clauses (3) and (4) do not apply to an enemy alien.

6. Slavery and forced labour prohibited

1. No person shall be held in slavery.
2. All forms of forced labour are prohibited, but Parliament may by law provide for compulsory service for national purposes.
3. Work or service required from any person as a consequence of a conviction or a finding of guilt in a court of law shall not be taken to be forced labour within the meaning of this Article, provided that such work or service is carried out under the supervision and control of a public authority.
4. Where by any written law the whole or any part of the functions of any public authority is to be carried on by another public authority, for the purpose of enabling those functions to be performed the employees of the first mentioned public authority shall be bound to serve the second mentioned public authority, and their service with the second mentioned public authority shall not be taken to be forced labour within the meaning of this Article, and no such employee shall be entitled to demand any right from either the first mentioned or the second mentioned public authority by reason of the transfer of his employment.

7. Protection against retrospective criminal laws and repeated trials

1. No person shall be punished for an act or omission which was not punishable by law when it was done or made, and no person shall suffer greater punishment for an offence than was prescribed by law at the time it was committed.
2. A person who has been acquitted or convicted of an offence shall not be tried again for the same offence except where the conviction or acquittal has been quashed and a retrial ordered by a court superior to that by which he was acquitted or convicted.

8. Equality

1. All persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law.
2. Except as expressly authorised by this Constitution, there shall be no discrimination against citizens on the ground only of religion, race, descent, place of birth or gender in any law or in the appointment to any office or employment under a public authority or in the administration of any law relating to the acquisition, holding or disposition of property or the establishing or carrying on of any trade, business, profession, vocation or employment.
3. There shall be no discrimination in favour of any person on the ground that he is a subject of the Ruler of any State.
4. No public authority shall discriminate against any person on the ground that he is resident or carrying on business in any part of the Federation outside the jurisdiction of the authority.
5. This Article does not invalidate or prohibit-
   1. any provision regulating personal law;
   2. any provision or practice restricting office or employment connected with the affairs of any religion, or of an institution managed by a group professing any religion, to persons professing that religion;
   3. any provision for the protection, well-being or advancement of the aboriginal peoples of the Malay Peninsula (including the reservation of land) or the reservation to aborigines of a reasonable proportion of suitable positions in the public service;
   4. any provision prescribing residence in a State or part of a State as a qualification for election or appointment to any authority having jurisdiction only in that State or part, or for voting in such an election;
   5. any provision of a Constitution of a State, being or corresponding to a provision in force immediately before Merdeka Day;
   6. any provision restricting enlistment in the Malay Regiment to Malays.

9. Prohibition of banishment and freedom of movement

1. No citizen shall be banished or excluded from the Federation.
2. Subject to Clause (3) and to any law relating to the security of the Federation or any part thereof, public order, public health, or the punishment of offenders, every citizen has the right to move freely throughout the Federation and to reside in any part thereof.
3. So long as under this Constitution any other State is in a special position as compared with the States of Malaya, Parliament may by law impose restrictions, as between that State and other States, on the rights conferred by Clause (2) in respect of movement and residence.

10. Freedom of speech, assembly and association

1. Subject to Clauses (2), (3) and (4)-
   1. every citizen has the right to freedom of speech and expression;
   2. all citizens have the right to assemble peaceably and without arms;
   3. all citizens have the right to form associations.
2. Parliament may by law impose-
   1. on the rights conferred by paragraph (a) of Clause (1), such restrictions as it deems necessary or expedient in the interest of the security of the Federation or any part thereof, friendly relations with other countries, public order or morality and restrictions designed to protect the privileges of Parliament or of any Legislative Assembly or to provide against contempt of court, defamation, or incitement to any offence;
   2. on the right conferred by paragraph (b) of Clause (1), such restrictions as it deems necessary or expedient in the interest of the security of the Federation or any part thereof or public order;
   3. on the right conferred by paragraph (c) of Clause (1), such restrictions as it deems necessary or expedient in the interest of the security of the Federation or any part thereof, public order or morality.
3. Restrictions on the right to form associations conferred by paragraph (c) of Clause (1) may also be imposed by any law relating to labour or education.
4. In imposing restrictions in the interest of the security of the Federation or any part thereof or public order under Clause (2) (a), Parliament may pass law prohibiting the questioning of any matter, right, status, position, privilege, sovereignty or prerogative established or protected by the provisions of Part III, Article 152, 153 or 181 otherwise than in relation to the implementation thereof as may be specified in such law.

11. Freedom of religion

1. Every person has the right to profess and practise his religion and, subject to Clause (4), to propagate it.
2. No person shall be compelled to pay any tax the proceeds of which are specially allocated in whole or in part for the purposes of a religion other than his own.
3. Every religious group has the right-
   1. to manage its own religious affairs;
   2. to establish and maintain institutions for religious or charitable purposes; and
   3. to acquire and own property and hold and administer it in accordance with law.
4. State law and in respect of the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya, federal law may control or restrict the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the religion of Islam.
5. This Article does not authorise any act contrary to any general law relating to public order, public health or morality.

12. Rights in respect of education

1. Without prejudice to the generality of Article 8, there shall be no discrimination against any citizen on the grounds only of religion, race, descent or place of birth-
   1. in the administration of any educational institution maintained by a public authority, and, in particular, the admission of pupils or students or the payment of fees; or
   2. in providing out of the funds of a public authority financial aid for the maintenance or education of pupils or students in any educational institution (whether or not maintained by a public authority and whether within or outside the Federation).
2. Every religious group has the right to establish and maintain institutions for the education of children in its own religion, and there shall be no discrimination on the ground only of religion in any law relating to such institutions or in the administration of any such law; but it shall be lawful for the Federation or a State to establish or maintain or assist in establishing or maintaining Islamic institutions or provide or assist in providing instruction in the religion of Islam and incur such expenditure as may be necessary for the purpose.
3. No person shall be required to receive instruction in or to take part in any ceremony or act of worship of a religion other than his own.
4. For the purposes of Clause (3) the religion of a person under the age of eighteen years shall be decided by his parent or guardian.

13. Rights to property

1. No person shall be deprived of property save in accordance with law.
2. No law shall provide for the compulsory acquisition or use of property without adequate compensation.