MERDEKA 50 -FEDERAL CONSTITUTION - PT 1 - ART 1 TO 13

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FEDERAL CONSTITUTION
ARRANGEMENT OF ARTICLES
PART I
THE STATES, RELIGION AND LAW OF THE FEDERATION
Article
1. Name, States and territories of the Federation.
2. Admission of new territories into the Federation.
3. Religion of the Federation.
4. Supreme law of the Federation.

PART II
FUNDAMENTAL LIBERTIES
5. Liberty of the person.
6. Slavery and forced labour prohibited.
7. Protection against retrospective criminal laws and repeated trials.
8. Equality.
9. Prohibition of banishment and freedom of movement.
10. Freedom of speech, assembly and association.
11. Freedom of religion.
12. Rights in respect of education.
13. Rights to property.

PART I - The states, religion and law of the federation
Article 1 . Name, States and territories of the Federation.
1. The Federation shall be known, in Malay and in English, by the name Malaysia.
2. The States of the Federation shall be Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor and Trengganu.
3. Subject to Clause (4), the territories of each of the States mentioned in Clause (2) are the territories comprised therein immediately before Malaysia Day.
4. The territory of the State of Selangor shall exclude the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur established under the Constitution (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1973 and the territory of the State of Sabah shall exclude the Federal Territory of Labuan established under the Constitution (Amendment) (no. 2) Act 1984, and both the said Federal Territories shall be territories of the Federation.
Article 2 . Admission of new territories into the Federation.
Parliament may by law -
• (a) admit other States to the Federation;
• (b) alter the boundaries of any State, but a law altering the boundaries of a State shall not be passed without the consent of that State (expressed by a law made by the Legislature of that State) and of the Conference of Rulers.
Article 3 Religion of the Federation.
1. Islam is the religion of the Federation; but other religions may be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation.
2. In every State other than States not having a Ruler the position of the Ruler as the Head of the religion of Islam in his State in the manner and to the extent acknowledged and declared by the Constitution, all rights, privileges, prerogatives and powers enjoyed by him as Head of that religion, are unaffected and unimpaired; but in any acts, observance or ceremonies with respect to which the Conference of Rulers has agreed that they should extend to the Federation as a whole each of the other Rulers shall in his capacity of Head of the religion of Islam authorize the Yang di-pertuan Agong to represent him.
3. The Constitution of the States of Malacca, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak shall each make provision for conferring on the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall be Head of the religion of Islam in that State.
4. Nothing in this Article derogates from any other provision of this Constitution.
5. Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall be the Head of the religion of Islam in the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Labuan; and for this purpose Parliament may by law make provisions for regulating Islamic religious affairs and for constituting a Council to advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in matters relating to the religion of Islam.
Article 4 Supreme law of the Federation.
1. This Constitution is the supreme law of the Federation and any law passed after Merdeka Day which is inconsistent with this Constitution shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void.
2. The validity of any law shall not be questioned on the ground that -
o (a) it imposes restrictions on the right mentioned in Article 9 (2) but does not relate to the matters mentioned therein; or
o (b) it imposes such restrictions as are mentioned in Article 10 (2) but those restrictions were not deemed necessary or expedient by Parliament for the purposes mentioned in that Article.
3. The validity of any law made by Parliament or the Legislature of any State shall not be questioned on the ground that it makes provision with respect to any matter with respect to which Parliament or, as the case may be, the Legislature of the State has no power to make laws, except in proceedings for a declaration that the law is invalid on that ground or -
o if the law was made by Parliament, in proceedings between the Federation and one or more States;
o if the law was made by Legislature of a State, in proceedings between the Federation and that State.
4. Proceedings for a declaration that a law is invalid on the ground mentioned in Clause (3) (not being proceedings falling within paragraph (a) or (b) of the Clause) shall not be commenced without the leave of a judge of the Supreme Court; and the Federation shall be entitled to be a party to any such proceedings, and so shall any State that would or might be a party to proceedings brought for the same purpose under paragraph (a) or (b) of the Clause.
PART II - Fundamental liberties
Article 5 Liberty of the person.
1. No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty save in accordance with law.
2. Where complaint is made to a High court or any judge thereof that a person is being unlawfully detained the court shall inquire into the complaint and, unless satisfied that the detention is lawful, shall order him to be produced before the court and release him.
3. Where a person is arrested he shall be informed as soon as may be of the grounds of his arrest and shall be allowed to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of his choice.
4. Where a person is arrested and not released he shall without unreasonable delay, and in any case within twenty-four hours (excluding the time of any necessary journey) be produced before a magistrate and shall not be further detained in custody without the magistrate's authority:
o Provided that this Clause shall not apply to the arrest or detention of any person under the existing law relating to restricted residence, and all the provisions of this Clause shall be deemed to have been an integral part of this Article as from Merdeka Day.
5. Clauses (3) and (4) do not apply to an enemy alien.
Article 6 Slavery and forced labour prohibited.
1. No person shall be held in slavery.
2. All forms of forced labour are prohibited, but Parliament may by law provide for compulsory service for national purposes.
3. Work incidental to the serving of a sentence of imprisonment imposed by a court of law shall not be taken to be forced labour within the meaning of this Article.
4. Where by any written law the whole or any part of the functions of any public authority is to be carried on by another public authority, for the purpose of enabling those functions to be performed the employees of the first mentioned public authority shall be bound to serve the second mentioned public authority shall not be taken to be forced labour within the meaning of this Article, and no such employee shall be entitled to demand any right from either the first mentioned or the second mentioned public authority by reason of the transfer of his employment.
Article 7 Protection against retrospective criminal laws and repeated trials.
1. No person shall be punished for an act or omission which was not punishable by law when it was done or made, and no person shall suffer greater punishment for an offence than was prescribed by law at the time it was committed.
2. A person who has been acquitted or convicted of an offence shall not be tried again for the same offence except where the conviction or acquittal has been quashed and a retrial ordered by a court superior to that by which he was acquitted or convicted.
Article 8 Equality.

1.All persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law.
2. Except as expressly authorized by this Constitution, there shall be no discrimination against citizens on the ground only of religion, race, descent or place of birth in any law relating to the acquisition, holding or disposition of property or the establishing or carrying on of any trade, business, profession, vocation or employment.
3. There shall be no discrimination in favour of any person on the ground that he is a subject of the Ruler of the State.
4. No public authority shall discriminate against any person on the ground that he is resident or carrying on business in any part of the Federation outside the jurisdiction of the authority.
5. This Article does not invalidate or prohibit -
1. (a) any provision regulating personal law;
2. (b) any provision or practice restricting office or employment connected with the affairs of any religion, or of an institution managed by a group professing any religion, to persons professing that religion;
3. (c) any provision for the protection, wellbeing or advancement of the aboriginal peoples of the Malay Peninsula (including the reservation of land) or the reservation to aborigines of a reasonable proportion of suitable positions in the public service;
4. (d) any provision prescribing residence in a State or part of a State as a qualification for election or appointment to any authority having jurisdiction only in that State or part, or for voting in such an election;
5. (e) any provision of a Constitution of a State, being or corresponding to a provision in force immediately before Merdeka Day;
6. (f) any provision restricting enlistment in the Malay Regiment to Malays.
Article 9 Prohibition of banishment and freedom of movement.
1. No citizen shall be banished or excluded from the Federation.
2. Subject to Clause (3) and to any law relating to the security of the Federation or any part thereof, public order, public health, or the punishment of offenders, every citizen has the right to move freely throughout the Federation and to reside in any part thereof.
3. So long as under this Constitution any other State is in a special position as compared with the States of Malaya, Parliament may by law impose restrictions, as between that State and other States, on the rights conferred by Clause (2) in respect of movement and residence.
Article 10 Freedom of speech, assembly and association.
1. Subject to Clauses (2), (3) and (4) -
o (a) every citizen has the right to freedom of speech and expression;
o (b) all citizens have the right to assemble peaceably and without arms;
o (c) all citizens have the right to form associations.
2. Parliament may by law impose -
o (a) on the rights conferred by paragraph (a) of Clause (1),such restrictions as it deems necessary or expedient in the interest of the security of the Federation or any part thereof, friendly relations with other countries, public order or morality and restrictions designed to protect the privileges of Parliament or of any Legislative Assembly or to provide against contempt of court, defamation, or incitement to any offence;
o (b) on the right conferred by paragraph (b) of Clause (1), such restrictions as it deems necessary or expedient in the interest of the security of the Federation or any part thereof, or public order;
o (c) on the right conferred by paragraph (c) of Clause (1), such restrictions as it deems necessary or expedient in the interest of the security of the Federation or any part thereof, public order or morality.
3. Restrictions on the right to form associations conferred by paragraph (c) of Clause (1) may also be imposed by any law relating to labour or education.
4. In imposing restrictions in the interest of the security of the Federation or any part thereof or public order under Clause (2) (a), Parliament may pass law prohibiting the questioning of any matter, right, status, position, privilege, sovereignty or prerogative established or protected by the provisions of Part III, Article 152, Article 153 or Article 181 otherwise than in relation to the implementation thereof as may be specified in such law.
Article 11 Freedom of religion.
1. Every person has the right to profess and practice his religion and, subject to Clause (4), to propagate it.
2. No person shall be compelled to pay any tax the proceeds of which are specially allocated in whole or in part for the purposes of a religion other than his own.
3. Every religious group has the right -
o (a) to manage its own religious affairs;
o (b) to establish and maintain institutions for religious or charitable purposes; and
o (c) to acquire and own property and hold and administer it in accordance with law.
4. State law and in respect of the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Labuan, federal law may control or restrict the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the religion of Islam.
5. This Article does not authorize any act contrary to any general law relating to public order, public health or morality.
Article 12 Rights in respect of education.
1. Without prejudice to the generality of Article 8, there shall be no discrimination against any citizen on the grounds only of religion, race, descent or place of birth -
o in the administration of any educational institution maintained by a public authority, and, in particular, the admission of pupils or students or the payment of fees; or
o in providing out of the funds of a public authority financial aid for the maintenance or education of pupils or students in any educational institution (whether or not maintained by a public authority and whether within or outside the Federation).
2. Every religious group has the right to establish and maintain institutions for the education of children in its own religion, and there shall be no discrimination on the ground only of religion in any law relating to such institutions or in the administration of any such law; but it shall be lawful for the Federation or a State to establish or maintain or assist in establishing or maintaining Islamic institutions or provide or assist in providing instruction in the religion of Islam and incur such expenditure as may be necessary for the purpose.
3. No person shall be required to receive instruction in or take part in any ceremony or act of worship of a religion other than his own.
4. For the purposes of Clause (3) the religion of a person under the age of eighteen years shall be decided by his parent or guardian.
Article 13 Rights to property.
1. No person shall be deprived of property save in accordance with law.
2. No law shall provide for the compulsory acquisition or use of property without adequate compensation.

TO BE CONTINUED