Malaysia 1957 Constitution (reviewed 2007)

PART V. THE STATES

70. Precedence of Rulers and Yang di-Pertua-Yang di-Pertua Negeri

1. Subject to the precedence of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and his Consort, the Rulers and Yang di-Pertua-Yang di-Pertua Negeri of the States shall take precedence over all other persons and each Ruler or Yang di-Pertua Negeri shall in his own State take precedence over the other Rulers and Yang di-Pertua-Yang di-Pertua Negeri.
2. Subject to Clause (1), the Rulers shall take precedence over the Yang di-Pertua-Yang di-Pertua Negeri and, among themselves, in accordance with the dates on which they acceded as Rulers, and the Yang di-Pertua-Yang di-Pertua Negeri shall take precedence among themselves in accordance with the dates on which they were appointed as Yang di-Pertua-Yang di-Pertua Negeri; and if Yang di-Pertua-Yang di-Pertua Negeri were appointed on the same day the older shall take precedence over the younger.

71. Federal guarantee of State Constitutions

1. The Federation shall guarantee the right of a Ruler of a State to succeed and to hold, enjoy and exercise the constitutional rights and privileges of Ruler of that State in accordance with the Constitution of that State; but any dispute as to the title to the succession as Ruler of any State shall be determined solely by such authorities and in such manner as may be provided by the Constitution of that State.
2. Clause (1) shall, with the necessary modifications, apply in relation to a Ruling Chief of Negeri Sembilan as it applies to the Ruler of a State.
3. If it appears to Parliament that in any State any provision of this Constitution or of the Constitution of that State is being habitually disregarded Parliament may, notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, by law make provision for securing compliance with those provisions.
4. If at any time the Constitution of any State does not contain the provisions set out in Part I of the Eighth Schedule, with or without the modifications allowed under Clause (5) (hereinafter referred to as “the essential provisions”) or provisions substantially to the same effect, or contains provisions inconsistent with the essential provisions, Parliament may, notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, by law make provision for giving effect in that State to the essential provisions or for removing the inconsistent provisions.
5. The provisions set out in Part I of the Eighth Schedule may be modified by substituting for section 2 or section 4 or both the provisions set out in Part II of that Schedule as an alternative thereto-
   1. in the case of every State, until the dissolution of the second Legislative Assembly constituted in accordance with those provisions or those provisions so modified;
   2. in the case of Perlis, until such further time as the Legislative Assembly of that State may resolve and, as respects the provision set out in section 2 of that Schedule, indefinitely.
6. A law made for a State in pursuance of this Article shall, unless sooner repealed by Parliament, cease to have effect on such day as a new Legislative Assembly, constituted in that State after the passing of the law, may resolve.
7. In relation to the State of Sabah or Sarawak-
   1. Clause (5) shall not apply; but
   2. until the end of August 1975, or such earlier date as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong with the concurrence of the Yang di-Pertua Negeri may by order direct, Clause (4) shall apply as if the reference to the modifications allowed under Clause (5) were a reference to the modifications made by the Constitution of the State as in force on Malaysia Day.
8. (Repealed).

72. Privileges of Legislative Assembly

1. The validity of any proceedings in the Legislative Assembly of any State shall not be questioned in any court.
2. No person shall be liable to any proceedings in any court in respect of anything said or any vote given by him when taking part in proceedings of the Legislative Assembly of any State or of any committee thereof.
3. No person shall be liable to any proceedings in any court in respect of anything published by or under the authority of the Legislative Assembly of any State.
4. Clause (2) shall not apply to any person charged with an offence under the law passed by Parliament under Clause (4) of Article 10 or with an offence under the Sedition Act 1948 as amended by the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance No. 45, 1970.
5. Notwithstanding Clause (4), no person shall be liable to any proceedings in any court in respect of anything said by him of the Ruler of any State when taking part in any proceedings of the Legislative Assembly of any State or any committee thereof except where he advocates the abolition of the Ruler’s position as the constitutional Ruler of that State.