The Impact of Article 3(1) of Malaysian Constitution towards Judgment made in Civil Court.

Abstract

The legal system of Malaysia was modeled after the English legal system which practices parliamentary democracy and is ruled by a Constitutional Monarchy, with His Majesty the Yang di-PertuanAgong (the King) presiding ceremonially as the Head of the country. Although the Malaysian legal system is predominantly based on English common law, there are also other secondary legal systems concurrently affecting certain sections of the law, such as Islamic law and customary law. Though Islam has a most exalted position as the religion of the Federation, the sharia is not the basic law of the land. This conception paper believes Article 3(1) on Islam as the religion of the Federation is qualified by Article 3(4), which clearly states that “nothing in this article derogates from any other provision of the Constitutionâ€. This means that Article 3(1) does not override any other provision of the Constitution. This article view that a united and functional Malaysia can only exist when legal issues are determined in accordance with principle, in well-reasoned judgments by the courts, with a willingness to grapple with difficult issues without glossing over or avoidance or oversimplification or a giving way to sentiment.
Keywords: Malaysian Legal system, Malaysian Constitutions, Islam, Sharia Law