QUESTION 1

Federal Constitution is the highest law in Malaysia and it is used to regulate how the
government works. The Federal constitution protects the basic or the fundamental rights of individuals.
Unlike United Kingdom, Malaysia has a written constitution and it is the supreme law of the land. The
rights written in the Constitution can only be changed by two-thirds majority of the total number of
members of the legislature. The laws written in Federal Constitution is used as reference by judicial
courts in Malaysia to solve law cases and problems arise in society besides maintaining peace. According
to Article 75 of the Federal Constitution, any law which is inconsistent with the Federal Constitution is
prevail and the state law shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void”

Under the Constitution, fundamental liberties are rights and freedom as human beings that cannot be
taken away which consists of liberty of the person, prohibition of slavery and forced labor, protection
against retrospective criminal laws and repeated trials, equality, prohibition of banishment and freedom
of movement. Elaboration on two of the fundamental liberties are:-

i) Article 5 – Right to life and personal liberty

Every person has the rights to have liberty upon themselves and the rights to live life. A person’s life or
liberty cannot be taken away unless it is accordance with law. The court stated that the right of life
includes a right to livelihood and quality of life while right to liberty is the right to privacy.

When a person is arrested :-

1. must be informed as soon as possible of the ground of the arrest

2. has the rights to consult and defended by a lawyer of his/her choice or ‘access to legal representation’

3. must be brought before a magistrate within 24 hours and cannot be detained further unless it is with
the authority of the magistrate known as ‘remand order’

If a person is not arrested according to law, the court will order that person to be brought to the court
to be released. This is knows as habeas corpus. A person is given the mandate to question the court and
provide a reason for his detention.

ii) Article 10 – Freedom of speech, assembly and association

1. Freedom of speech and expression

Citizen has the right to freedom of speech and expression. However, Parliament may make laws restrict
this right if they are necessary in the interest of:-

- the security of Malaysia

- friendly relations with other countries

- public order or morality

- the protection of privileges of Parliament or any State legislative assembly or to provide against
contempt of court, defamation or incitement to any offence.
In enforcing restrictions on the freedom of speech and expression in the sake of security of the country,
Parliament may pass laws prohibiting the questioning of matters relating to citizenship, national
language, the special position of Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak and sovereignty of the
Rulers.

2. Freedom to assemble peaceably and to form association

All citizen have the rights to assemble peacefully to form associations. However, Parliament has the
power to make laws to restrict these rights if they are necessary in the interest of:-

-the security of the country

-public order

-morality
QUESTION 2

The Magistrate Court deals with majority of cases, both civil and criminal and is available in all major
towns in Malaysia.

The relevant classification of law according to this case is 1 st class magistrate investigated under Section
85 Subordinate Courts Act 1948 which means if found guilty the offender is punishable with
imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or punishable with fine, 5 years of imprisonment or fine up to
RM10,000, whipping up to 12 strokes or the combination of the any of the above mentioned. Section 85
Subordinate Courts Act 1948 also implies that under Section 395 of the Penal Code states whoever
commits gang-robbery shall be punished in imprisonment for a term which may extend to twenty years
and shall also be liable to whipping. Section 393 of the Penal Code also states that whoever attempts to
commit robbery shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years and
shall also be liable to fine.

The law stated that in all robbery there is either theft or extortion. Theft is robbery if in order to commit
theft or attempting to carry away properties obtained by theft voluntarily cause to any person death,
hurt, or wrongful restraint. Section 391 of the Penal Code states that when two or more person
conjointly commit or attempt to commit a robbery, or where the whole number of persons conjointly
committing or attempting to commit a robbery, and of persons present and aiding such commission or
attempt, amount to two or more, every person so committing, attempting, or aiding, is said to commit
“gang robbery”.

By applying the law according to the case, Razak and Rodney is eligible to be charged under Section 391
and Section 393 of the Penal Code by Magistrate Court in Kota Kinabalu as they attempted to rob a bank
and gang-robbery. They may also be punished with imprisonment which may extend up to twenty years.