Rule Of Law In Malaysia

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The rule of law is a legal principle that law should govern the nation, as opposed to being governed by arbitrary decisions of individual government officials. Under the principle of the rule of law, no one is exempted from the law, even those who are in a position of power. This is to ensure that those people who are entrusted with the power to govern the nation does not abuse and misuse their power and at the same time, to protect and safe guard the nation against tyranny. Aristotle once said, it is more proper that law should govern than any one of the citizens, upon the same principle, if it is advantageous to place the supreme power in some particular person, they should be appointed to be only guardians and the servants of the law.…show more content…
The term ‘constitution’ in any country, basically refers to a set of rules which determine, among others, the manner the institutions are to be set up, the powers to be distributed and the justice to be administered. The term ‘supremacy’ means the highest in authority or rank and this may even mean being in an all-powerful position. Therefore, Constitutional Supremacy means there is a codified document of rules governing the people and also the government which is recognised as the highest rank of law of the State. The Chief Justice of the United States, John Marshall illustrated on Constitutional Supremacy in the case of Marbury v Madison. He states that ‘Certainly all those who have framed the constitution contemplate them as forming the fundamental and paramount law of the nation and, consequently, the theory of every such government must be, that an act of the legislature, repugnant to the constitution, is…show more content…
In terms of judicial review, there are a few grounds on which the court may invalidate laws. The first ground is that it relates to a matter concerning which the legislature has no authority to enact law. The second ground is that the legislation is not enacted in accordance with the procedure prescribed in the Constitution. The third ground is that the legislation is inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution or in the case of a state law, it is inconsistent with federal law. Other than that, in terms of limited Parliament, the Parliament cannot enact any law according to their preferences as in Malaysia, the Parliament is subjected to the provisions of the Federal Constitution. This is in contrast with the United Kingdom where the concept of Parliamentary Supremacy is practiced. In England, unlike in Malaysia, the Parliament can enact any law as they wish. The function and power of the legislature body is clearly vested in Article 44 of the Federal Constitution which must be adhered to by the

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