Federal Constitution of Malaysia Perlembagaan Persekutuan Malaysia
The Federal Constitution reprint 2020
Overview
Jurisdiction
Malaysia
Ratified
27 August 1957
System
Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Government structure
Branches
Three (Executive, Legislature and Judiciary)
Head of state
Yang Di-Pertuan Agong
Chambers
Two (Dewan Negara and Dewan Rakyat)
Federalism
Federal[citation needed]
Signatories
Delegates of the Reid Commission and later of the Cobbold Commission
This article is part of a series on the
Politics of Malaysia
Head of State
Yang di-Pertuan Agong
Ibrahim Iskandar
Conference of Rulers
Legislature
Parliament of Malaysia
15th Parliament
Senate (Dewan Negara)
President Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar
House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat)
Speaker Johari Abdul
Leader of the Government Anwar Ibrahim
Leader of the Opposition Hamzah Zainudin
Executive
Cabinet
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim
Civil service (agencies)
Chief Secretary Mohd. Zuki Ali
Judiciary
Federal Court
Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat
Court of Appeal
President Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim
High Court in Malaya ∙ High Court in Sabah and Sarawak
Chief Judge of Malaya Mohamad Zabidin
Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Abdul Rahman Sebli
Elections
Election Commission of Malaysia
General elections: 2022
Electoral districts
Political parties
BN
PH
PN
GPS
GRS
List of political parties in Malaysia
Federalism
State governments
Chief ministers of the states
State legislatures (members)
Local governments (list)
Ideologies and concepts
Anarchism
Communism
Conservatism
Feminism
Rukun Negara
Malay nationalism
Reformasi
Islam Hadhari
Asian values
Race and politics
Dayaks in politics
Ketuanan Melayu
Bumiputera
Malaysian Malaysia
Social contract
Malaysia portal
Politics portal
Other countries
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The Federal Constitution of Malaysia (Malay: Perlembagaan
Persekutuan Malaysia), which came into force in 1957 as the Constitution of the Federation of Malaya and was amended in 1963 to form the Constitution of Malaysia, is the supreme law of Malaysia and contains a total of 183 articles.[1] It is a written legal document influenced by two previous documents, the Federation of Malaya Agreement 1948 and the Independence Constitution of 1957. The Federation was initially called the Federation of Malaya (Malay: Persekutuan Tanah Melayu) and it adopted its present name, Malaysia, when the states of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore (now independent) became part of the Federation.[2] The Constitution establishes the Federation as a constitutional monarchy, having the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as the Head of State with largely ceremonial roles.[3] It provides for the establishment and organisation of three main branches of the government: the bicameral legislative branch called the Parliament, which consists of the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat) and the Senate (Dewan Negara); the executive branch led by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet Ministers and the judicial branch headed by the Federal Court.[4]
^See Article 4(1) of the Constitution which states that "The Constitution is the supreme law of the Federation and any law which is passed after Merdeka Day (31 August 1957) which is inconsistent with the Constitution shall to the extent of the inconsistency be void."
^Article 1(1) of the Constitution originally read "The Federation shall be known by the name of Persekutuan Tanah Melayu (in English the Federation of Malaya)". This was amended in 1963 when Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore formed a new federation to "The Federation shall be known, in Malay and in English, by the name Malaysia."
^See Article 32(1) of the Constitution which provides that "There shall be a Supreme Head of the Federation, to be called the Yang di-Pertuan Agong..." and Article 40 which provides that in the exercise of his functions under the Constitution or federal law the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall act in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet or an authorised minister except as otherwise provide in certain limited circumstances, such as the appointment of the Prime Minister and the withholding of consent to a request to dissolve Parliament.
^These are provided for in various parts of the Constitution: For the establishment of the legislative branch see Part IV Chapter 4 – Federal Legislature, for the executive branch see Part IV Chapter 3 – The Executive and for the judicial branch see Part IX.
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