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LAW 434
LECTURE 1
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
History of Legal System
Early settlers in Malaysia
The earliest inhabitants of the Malay Peninsular were people of the
Middle Stone Age-possibly descendants of Javaman - who arrived
sometime between 8000 and 2000 BC.
They were the Orang Asli (Original People), the ancestor of the
Negrito and Senoi.
They were followed around 1500BC by the Orang Melayu Asli (Proto-
Malays).
Sometimes between 300 and AD 100 came the Proto-Malays who
intermarried with peoples from Java and Sumatra, and evolve into the
Deutro-Malays, the ancestors of the present Malays.
The Proto-Malays were administratively the most advanced. They were
headed by a Batin.
Under him was the Jinang or Menteri who acted for him when he was
incapacitated.
A Penglima exercised authority over more than one village while Penghulu
administered a single village.
Some aspects of this organization still survive to this day: the Menteri
Besar heads the government in modern Malay states while the Penghulu is
the key figure in local rural administration.
The prehistoric settlers brought their own customary laws.
This law-modified-has survived to this date under the Aboriginal Peoples
Act 1954(Act 134)
Hindu Buddhist influences
Trade between India and Chinese started as early as 700 BC,
suggesting the possibly of trade with Malay Peninsular.
The primitive political structure of the Proto-Malays was influenced
by the Indian.
The Malay chief was elevated to devaraja or semi-divine king who
derived his authority from divine powers that transcended the
customary laws of the tribe. He possessed absolute political and legal
authority.
Justice was dispensed by the god-king, advised by learned Brahmans
on the right law for each caste.
Hindu law, based on Dharmasutras (law books in prose),
Dharmasastra (law books in verse) has significant influenced in
the region especially the constitutional law and criminal law.
The Sultan and his ministers had complementary functions: the Sultan
to fulfill the sacred and the spiritual, his ministers to administer the
mundane.
The Bendahara
The most important minister was the bendahara, who combined the
offices of the modern prime minister, chief justice, and commander-
in-chief of the army.
He exercised both political and judicial functions
Temenggung and Laksamana
Before the coming of Islam, the law applicable was Malay adat law,
specifically adat Temenggung.
Adat temenggung came via Palembang and was the law of the Sultan
and, therefore, autocratic in nature.
It was the law later adopted in all the Malay states except Negeri
Sembilan.
Adat temenggung was also the basis of the law contained in most of
the Malay legal codes or digests which were compiled from the mid-
fifteenth century onwards to facilitate the uniformity of decisions.
Legal Digests
There were two legal digests in the Melaka Sultanate:
(a) Undang-undang Melaka, also known as Hukum Kanun Melaka or
Risalat Hukum Kanun (A.D.1523); and
(b) Undang-undang Laut Melaka (the Maritime Laws of Melaka)
Other legal Digests
It was only during the reign of Sultan Muzaffar Shah (1444-1456 A.D.)
that orders were given to compile the laws to provide for uniformity
of decissions.
The legal rules that eventually evolved were shaped by three main
influences, namely, the early non-indigenous Hindu/Buddhist
tradition, Islam and the indigenous (native) adat.
Undang-undang Melaka covered a wide range of constitutional, civil
and criminal matters. The digest also contained some aspects of
Islamic law such as validity of marriage, marriage witnesses, talak,
property claim, trusteeship, performance of prayer, taking of oath and
others.
1873: Supreme Court was reorganised under four judges- the Chief
Justice, the Judge of Penang, the Senior Puisne Judge and
the Junior Puisne Judge.
The British then incorporated the FMS, UMS, and the Straits Settlements
(but excluding Singapore) into a unitary state, the Malayan Union (MU), on
1 April 1946. The MU, which reduced the Malay states to colony status, and
the manner in which it was imposed upon Malay Rulers invoked fierce
Malay opposition. The British were forced to abandon the MU scheme. In
its place was established the Persekutuan Tanah Melayu (Federation of
Malaya) on 1 February 1948.
Independence