Introduction to Law in Malaysia
by
A Vijayalakshmi Venugopal
MALAYSIA • SINGAPORE • HONG KONG SWEET & MAXWELL ASIA
2001
Contents Preface Abbreviations Table of Cases Table of Statutes nux Senarai Statut
to Law in Malaysia
Chapter 1
Introduction I 1.1 Law 1 1.2 Functions bw 3
Current discussion 6 1.4 Aims of current discussion 8
Chapter 2 Sources of Law in Malaysia 9 2.1 Mabysian statutes 9 2.2 Mabysian cases 9 2.3 countries (other than and England) 10 2.4 English bw ." 10
Chapter 3 Civil and Criminal Law
Chapter 4 Brandies of Law 19
Chapter 5 Hierarchy of Courts 47 5.1 Court 47 5.2 48 5.3 Sessions Court 53
5.4 High Court 55 Court of Appeal 59
5.6 Federal Court 60 5.7 Courts created for specific purposes 62
5.7.1 Juvenile Court 62 5.7.2 Native Court 63 5.7.3 Syariah Court 64 5.7.4 Employment Courts 65
5.7.4.1 Labour Court 65 5.7.4.2 Industrial Court 67 5.7.5 Special Court 68
5.8 Courts appellate structure 69
Chapter 6
Constitution 71 6.1 Background 71 6.2 Index of the Federal Constitution 75 6.3 Selected Articles from the Federal Constitution 85 6.4 Comments regarding Constitutions 97
Chapter 7
Statutes 7.1 The making of statutes 103 7.2 Authoritative versions of statutes 107 7.3 Statutory interpretation 108 7.4 Referring to statutes
Chapter 8
Cases 119 8.1 Judicial precedent 119 8.2 Referring to cases 124
Chapter 9
Limitation Period
Chapter 10
Trials 10.1 Presumption of innocence
Contents
10.1.1 Right of silence 137 10.1.2 Burden of proof 137 10.1.3 Standard of proof 143
10.2 Prima facie case 145 10.3 Illustration 148
Chapter 11
Professionalism 153 11.1 Duty to society 154
Duty to client 157 Duty to fellow professionals 157 Professional ethics 158
Chapter 12
Statutes for Specific Professions 163 12.1 List of statutes for specific professions 163 12.2 Statutes relevant to a specific group of professionals -
Engineers 164 12.2.1 Registration of Engineers Act 1967 164
12.2.1.1 Introduction 164 12.2.1.2 Board of Engineers 166
12.2.1.2.1 Membership of the Board 166 12.2.1.2.2 Functions of the Board 167
12.2.1.3 Registration 167 12.2.1.3.1 Privileges of registration 167 12.2.1.3.2 Eligibility for registration 168
12.2.1.3.2.1 Graduate Engineers 168 12.2.1.3.2.2 Professional Engineers 168 12.2.1.3.2.3 Foreign Engineers 170 12.2.1.3.2.4 Body Corporate 172
12.2.1.3.3 Certificate of registration 174 12.2.1.3.4 Register 174
12.2.1.4 Cancellation of registration 175 12.2.1.5 Removal from Register 177 12.2.1.6 Appeal 178 12.2.1.7 Offences 178 12.2.1.8 Regulations 180 12.2.1.9 Expenditure 180
Contents
12.2.2 Intellectual property statutes 181 12.2.2.1 Trade marks 182 12.2.2.2 Industrial designs 183 12.2.2.3 Layout-Designs 186 12.2.2.4 Geographical indications 190 12.2.2.5 Optical discs 193 12.2.2.6 Patents 195 12.2.2.7 The particular relevance of copyright 197
12.2.2.7.1 Works which are capable of being protected by copyright 203
12.2.2.7.2 The owner of the copyright 206 12.2.2.7.3 The duration of a copyright 206 12.2.2.7.4 The rights conferred by a copyright 207 12.2.2.7.5 Infringement of a copyright 209
The party who can institute an action for an infringement of copyright 211
12.2.2.7.7 Offences under the Act for infringements of a copyright 211
12.2.2.7.8 Seizure of infringing copies 214 12.2.2.7.9 Extending the application of the Act 216
12.2.3 Miscellaneous statutes 217 12.2.3.1 Factories and Act 1967 217 12.2.3.2 Street, Drainage and Act 1974 218 12.2.3.3 Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 218
Chapter 13
Employment Law 221 Employees with a monthly wage of not more than
221 13.2 Employees with a monthly wage of between to
222 13.3 Employees with a monthly wage of more than 223 13.4 The advantages of employment bw courts 223 13.5 Selected provisions of the Employment Act 1955 224 13.6 Selected provisions of the Industrial Relations Act 1967 228 decisions 238
Contents
Chapter 14
Contracts 243 14.1 Contracts Act 1950 243
14.1.1 Illustrations 243 14.1.2 Offer and acceptance 244 14.1.3 Revocation offer and acceptance 245
Communication of offer, acceptance and revocation 245 14.1.5 Acceptance 246 14.1.6 Contracts 247 14.1.7 Voidable contracts 253 14.1.8 Void agreements 254 14.1.9 Performance of contract 256 14.1.10 Contracts that cannot be performed 257 14.1.11 Breach of contract 258 14.1.12 Damages 259
14.2 Specific Relief Act 1950 260 14.2.1 Specific performance of contracts 261
Contracts capable of specific performance 261 14.2.1.2 Presumptions 262 14.2.1.3 Damages in addition to or in substitution of
specific performance 264 14.2.1.4 Penalty clause 264 14.2.1.5 Contracts incapable of being specifically enforced 264 14.2.1.6 Discretionary 266 14.2.1.7 Parties 267
14.2.2 Injunctions 267 14.2.2.1 Duration of injunctions 269 14.2.2.3 Guidelines as to when an injunction
is granted 270 14.2.2.3 Injunctions and specific performance 271
14.3 Stages in breach contract cases 272
Chapter 15 Tort of Negligence 273
Tort 273 negligence 276
Contents
15.2.1 care 277 15.2.2 Breach 280 15.2.3 Causation 283 15.2.4 Loss 287 15.2.5 Summary 288
Chapter 16 The Relationship between Contracts and the Tort
of Negligence 293
Chapter 17
Highland Towers 297 17.1 Developer 301
17.1.1 Negligence 301 17.1.1.1 Appointment of competent consultants to carry
out the designs, construction and supervision of the architectural and engineering works 302
Terracing of the slope and construction of retaining walls and drains on the Highland Towers site and the land at the rear of Highland Towers 303
17.1.1.3 Diversion of the east stream from its natural path to the pipe culvert which ran horizontally across the hill slope directly above the three blocks of apartments 304
17.1.1.4 An employer who employs an independent contractor to carry out works on its behalf is direcdy responsible for the manner in which those works are carried out if the works are extra-hazardous in nature 305
17.1.2 Nuisance 305 17.2 Purported architect 306
17.2.1 Negligence 17.2.1.1 Duty of care 306 17.2.1.2 Breach 308 17.2.1.3 Pure economic loss 309
17.2.2 Nuisance 17.3 Engineer
17.3.1 Negligence
Contents
17.3.2 Nuisance 314 17.4 Local Authority 314
17.4.1 Negligence 314 17.4.2 Nuisance 317 17.4.3 Limitation 318
17.5 Registered owner of land at the rear of Highland Towers 318 17.5.1 Negligence 319 17.5.2 Nuisance 322
17.5.2.1 Locus standi 322 17.5.2.2 Reasonable user of the land 323 17.5.2.3 Vandalism 324
Company that carried out clearing works on the land at the rear of Highland Towers 325
Registered owner of land above the land at the rear of Highland Towers 325
17.8 Provider of management services to the registered owner of the land above the land at the rear of Highland Towers to develop the land into a housing estate 326 17.8.1 Preliminary issues 326
17.8.1.1 Acts an independent contractor 326 17.8.1.2 Pure economic loss 328
17.8.2 Negligence 329 17.8.3 Nuisance 331
17.9 State Government of Selangor 332 17.10 Director of Lands & Mines of the State of Selangor 332
17.10.1 Preliminary issues 332 17.10.1.1 Wrong party named 332 17.10.1.2 officer(s) not named 334
17.11 Apportionment and contribution 336 Same damage 337
17.11.2 Demand of contribution 337 Extent of contribution 338
Chapter 18 Conclusion 339
Contents
Pengenalan kepada Undang-Undang di Malaysia
1 Pengenalan 343 1.1 Undang-Undang 343 1.2 Kegunaan undang-undang 343
Perbincangan ini 344 344
2 Undang-Undang di Malaysia 345
2.1 Akta (Statut) Malaysia 345 2.2 Kes-kes di Malaysia 345 2.3 Undang-Undang negara (selain dari Malaysia
dan England) 346 2.4 Undang-Undang dari Negara England 346
3 Undang-Undang dan Jenayah 349
4 Cabang Undang-Undang 351
Bab 5 Struktur Mahkamah 363 5.1 Mahkamah Penghulu 363 5.2 Mahkamah Majistret 364 5.3 Mahkamah Sesyen 366 5.4 Tinggi 367 5.5 Mahkamah Rayuan 370 5.6 Mahkamah Persekutuan 371 5.7 Mahkamah yang ditubuhkan untuk tujuan tertentu 373
5.7.1 Mahkamah Juvana 373 5.7.2 Mahkamah Adat 374
Mahkamah Syariah 375 5.7.4 Mahkamah-Mahkamah Pekerjaan 376
Contents
5.7.4.1 Mahkamah Buruh 376 Mahkamah Perusahaan 377
5.7.5 Mahkamah Khas 378 5.8 Struktur rayuan mahkamah 379
Bab6
Perlembagaan 381 6.1 Latarbelakang 381 6.2 Kandungan Am Perlembagaan Persekutuan 382 6.3 Beberapa Perkara Perlembagaan Persekutuan 383
Bab 7 Statut 387 7.1 Pembuatan statut 387 7.2 Versi sahih statut 388 7.3 Tafsiran statut 389 7.4 Rujukan kepada statut 389
8
Kes 391 8.1 Duluan kehakiman 391 8.2 Rujukan kepada kes 393
9 Had Masa 395
Bab 10 Perbicaraan 403 10.1 Beban pembuktian 403 10.2 prima facie 404 10.3 Illustrasi 406
Bab 11 Statut Untuk Profesion 409 11.1 Senarai statut untuk profesion 409
Statut untuk 410 11.2.1 Akta Pendaftaran Jurutera 1967 410
11.2.1.1 Pengenalan 410
Contents
tatatertib 410 Anggota Lembaga 410
11.2.1.2.2 Fungsi Lembaga 411 Pendaftaran 411
pendaftaran 411 Kelayakan pendaftaran 412
11.2.1.3.2.1 siswazah 412 Jurutera profesional 412
Pendaftaran 413 Pemotongan pendaftaran 414 Kesalahan 415 Peraturan 416 Perbelanjaan 416
Statut harta intelektual 417 417
Reka bentuk 419 Reka bentuk susunan atur 422 Petunjuk geografi 426 Cakera optik 429
11.2.2.6 Paten 431 Hakcipta 434
byak hakcipta 438 11.2.2.7.2 hakcipta 441
Jangkamasa hakcipta 442 Hak yang diberi hakcipta 443 Pelanggaran hakcipta 444 Pihak yang boleh mengambil tindakan untuk
pelanggaran hakcipta 445 Kesalahan untuk pelanggaran hakcipta di
bawah Akta Ini 446 bnggaran 449
Perluasan pemakaian Akta ini 451 Statut-statut lain 452
dan Jentera 1967 452 Parit dan Bangunan 1974 453
Akta Kesebmatan dan Kesihatan Pekerjaan 1994 453
Bab 12
Undang-Undang Pekerjaan 455 12.1 Pekerja dengan gaji bulanan tidak melebihi 455 12.2 Pekerja dengan gaji bulanan di antara 1,501 dan
456 12.3 Pekerja dengan gaji bulanan melebihi RM5,000 457 12.4 Mengapa digunakan 457 12.5 Beberapa peruntukan dari Akta Kerja 1955 457
Beberapa peruntukan dari Akta Perhubungan Perindustrian 1967 460
Semakan kes dari Mahkamah Perusahaan 463
Bab 13 Kontrak 467 13.1 Akta Kontrak 1950 467
13.1.1 Misalan 467 Tawaran dan penerimaan 468
13.1.3 Pembatalan tawaran dan penerimaan 469 13.1.4 Komunikasi tawaran, penerimaan dan pembatalan 469 13.1.5 Penerimaan 470 13.1.6 Kontrak 470 13.1.7 yang boleh 474 yang 474 kontrak 476 13.1.10 Kontrak yang tidak boleh dilaksanakan 477
Kemungkiran kontrak 477 Pampasan 477
Akta Spesifik 1950 478 13.2.1 Perlaksanaan spesifik kontrak 479 13.2.2 Injunksi 483
Bab 14 Tort Kecuaian 487 14.1 tort 487 14.2 Tort kecuaian 488
14.2.1 Kewajipan 489 14.2.2 Perlanggaran kewajipan 491 14.2.3 Penyebaban 491