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ASEAN Law Resources: Malaysia

Introduction & Legal System

ASEAN Judiciaries Portal: Malaysia
Information on the Malaysian legal system published by the Council of ASEAN Chief Justices.

Doing Business in Malaysia 2021
Published by Skrine in Lex Mundi.

Introduction to the Malaysian Legal System and Sources of Law
Research guide on GlobaLex by Dr Sharifah Suhanah Syed Ahmad, retired Associate Professor of the Faculty of Law, University of Malaya (2014)

Legal System in Malaysia
Overview of the legal system published by the ASEAN Law Association.

The Malaysian Bar (Badan Peguam Malaysia)
Information on the practice of law in Malaysia, including laws governing the legal profession. Other resources include Bar Council rulings, court practice directions, articles by legal professionals and legal directories.

An Overview of Malaysian Legal System and Research
GlobaLex research guide on by Shaikh Mohamed Noordin and Shanthi Supramaniam (2016)

Researching Islamic Law: Malaysian Sources
Research guide on GlobaLex by Dr. Sia Chin Chin and Ms Suzanna Abdul Hadi. Originally published by Shaikh Mohamed Noordin (2021)

Southeast Asia Legal Research Guide: Malaysia Legal Research
Exhaustive research guide maintained by the MLS Academic Research Service, Melbourne Law School.

Legal Resources

Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia (Jabatan Peguam Malaysia)
Information on the work of the Malaysian AGC. Provides access to the Federal Legislation Portal.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Wisma Putra)
Information on Malaysia's foreign policy, including the book Foreign Policy Framework of the New Malaysia: Change in Continuity.

MyGovernment
The Malaysian government's official portal for information and services.

Sabah State Attorney-General's Chambers
Information about the functions of the SAGC and access to Sabah Lawnet, the database of Sabah laws.

Sarawak State Attorney-General's Chambers (Jabatan Peguam Besar Negeri Sarawak)
Information about the work of the SAGC. Index to the laws of Sarawak and access to Sarawak LawNet.

A. Legislature

Portal Rasmi Parlimen Malaysia (Official Portal of Parliament of Malaysia)
Resources include:

B. Laws

Federal Legislation Portal Malaysia
The only official publication of the laws of Malaysia. Incorporates all principal laws of Malaysia enacted after 1969 and pre-1969 laws which have been revised by the Commissioner of Law Revision.

Sabah LawNet
Database of the State of Sabah's enactments, ordinances, rules, regulations, by-laws and state laws declared Federal, and subsidiary legislation. Operated by the Sabah State Attorney-General's Chambers.

Sarawak LawNet
Official website for the statutes of Sarawak. Maintained by the Sarawak State Attorney-General's Chambers (Jabatan Peguam Besar Negeri Sarawak)

C. Treaties

IHL Databases: Treaties and States Parties - Malaysia
International humanitarian treaties to which Malaysia is a party. Published by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

International Investment Agreements Navigator : Malaysia
Investment agreements that Malaysia is a party to. Published on the Investment Policy Hub, UNCTAD.

Malaysia: Individual Foreign Tax Relief and Tax Treaties
Listing of countries with which Malaysia has double tax treaty. Published in World Tax Summaries by PWC.

United Nations Treaties Series Online
To obtain a listing of UN treaties to which Malaysia is a party, select Malaysia as a participant from the menu and click Search

CLJ Law
Website contains case highlights for the week and a listing of the latest Federal Court and Court of Appeal judgments.

The High Court in Sabah and Sarawak
Access to judgments of the Sabah and Sarawak courts.

Industrial Court of Malaysia
View awards granted by the court in the past week. You may also search for earlier awards but knowledge of case details is required.

Judiciary (CACJ)
Overview of the Malaysian judicial system and courts. Published by the Council of ASEAN Chief Justices.

Office of the Chief Registrar, Federal Court of Malaysia (Pejabat Ketua Pendaftar Mahkamah, Persekutuan Malaysia)
Information about the Malaysian court system and links to state court websites. Also contains grounds of judgments of the various Malaysian Courts.

Portal Rasmi E-Syariah (E-Syariah Official Portal)
Access to cases decided by the Syriah Court of Malaysia (Jabatan Kehakiman Syariah Malaysia). In Bahasa Malaysia.

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Selected books on the courts and judiciary in the Law Library collection:

The Annonated Courts of Judicature Act 1964 : including the annotated Subordinate Courts Act 1948 / Srimurugan Alagan
Call number: KE5085 Ala 2921

Bullen & Leake & Jacob's Malaysian precedents of pleadings / general editor Nallini Pathmanathan (2nd ed)
Call number: KE5194 Bul 2020

Civil and criminal appeals in Malaysia / Tan Kee Heng (3rd ed)
Call number: KE5190 Tan 2016

The Criminal procedure code : a commentary with appellate practice & procedure / Srimurugan Alagan (2nd ed)
Call number: KE5092 Ala 2018

Malaysian civil procedure 2021
Call number: KE5190 Mal 2021 

The Malaysian judiciary : a record / Tan Sri James Foong (3rd ed)
Call number: KE5086 Foo 2017

Open access journals/yearbooks:

IIUM Law Journal
Double-blind, peer-reviewed journal published by the International Islamic University Malaysia. Manuscripts on legal issues and developments relating to civil and Shari'ah laws.

INSAF: the Journal of the Malaysian Bar
This journal was not in publication for several years but has been reinstated. Volumes for the years 2000 to 2008 and 2022 are available on the Malaysian Bar website.

Journal of Foreign Affairs Malaysia
Selected volumes of the journal are available on this website. Published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Journal of Malaysian and Comparative Law
Blind refereed journal published by the Faculty of Law, University of Malaya. JMCL has recently adopted an open access policy. PDFs available from 1974.

Journal of the Malaysian Judiciary
Publication of the Judicial Appointments Commission (2016 - )

Jurnal Undang-Undang dan Masyarakat (Malaysian Journal of Law and Society)
A publication of the Faculty of Law, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (1998 - ). Several articles in English.

Kanun : Jurnal Undang-Undang Malaysia
Journal by academics on Malaysian civil and sharia law, including comparative studies of Malaysian law with the laws of other countries. Open access online from 2012.

Malaysian Journal of Syariah and Law (MJSL) 
Refereed journal published by USIM Press (Penerbit USIM) and managed by the Faculty of Syariah and Law at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM). Articles written in Bahasa Melayu, English and Arabic.

The Malaysian Judiciary Yearbook
Annual report of the Malaysian judiciary (2011 - )

Undang: Jurnal Hukum
Scientific journal in the field of law published by the Faculty of Law, Jambi University.

UUM Journal of Legal Studies
Double-blind, peer reviewed journal published by Universiti Utara Malaysia. Articles in both English and Bahasa Malaysia.

This section features a selection of the more recent books on Malaysian law. Unless otherwise stated, books are located in the Law Library.

For more books, search the library catalogue, LINC:

      ebook available

NUS Libraries subscribes to the following databases:

CLJ Law
Contains Malaysian cases reported in the Current Law Journal and Malaysian legislation, including the Shariah Reports.

Federated Malay States Government Gazettes: CO 574
Contains government gazettes from the Federated Malay States from 1909 to 1948.

Federation of Malaya Constitutional Commission, 1956 : CO 889
Also known as the Reid Commission Report.

Lexis Advance Singapore
The Malayan Law Journal is available via this database.

LawNet (Malaysia)
Subscribers to this database have access to Malaysian Acts, bills, legislative supplements, and government gazettes. Registration for ID and password required.

Open access databases:

Federal Legislation Portal (Laws of Malaysia)
The only official and authentic publication of the laws of Malaysia. Provided by the Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia.

Sabah Lawnet
Access to Sabah laws, including subsidiary legislation. Database maintained by the State Attorney-General of Sabah.

Sarawak LawNet
​Official Sarawak Government website for the Statutes of Sarawak provided by the Sarawak State Attorney-General's Chambers..