The laws of citizenship in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia: an analysis

Abstract

In Malaysia the concept of common citizenship emerged in 1948 with the introduction of the Federation of Malaya Agreement 1948 after the abolition of the Malayan Union Plan. It was later changed in 1957 when Malaya achieved its independence. The research seeks to analyse on the historical development of citizenship law in Malaysia with a view to highlight on its applicability. In this regards analysis is made on the relevant Policy and Agreements which took place starting from the period of Malayan Union until before the enacting of the Federal Constitution. The discussion from the Islamic perspective evolves on the concept of ummah which elucidate that such concept is different from the Western concept of society and nationalism. The special emphasis of the thesis is the analysis on the laws pertaining to citizenship in Malaysia as provided under Part III of the Federal Constitution, which were largely based on the Reid Commission Report and the White Paper. Since there is no up to date research in this subject the research as such also aimed at identifying whether the exiting laws pertaining to citizenship suited well in this era of globalisation. The study evidently proves that the long enacted provisions on citizenship which have not been examined have led to several problems relating to citizenship particularly in matters of acquisition and deprivation of citizenship in Malaysia. Meanwhile the attitude of the courts in ruling their decisions on citizenship matters does not reflect their willingness to interfere unless they concern with the procedural safeguard particularly on natural justice. This is due to the ‘finality clause’ provided under section 2 of Third Schedule of the Federal Constitution. As such there are limited number of reported cases on this subject. The study reveals that though the country had experienced various stages of constitutional development, laws pertaining to citizenship have not changed significantly. Hence it is proposed that those provisions which were drafted in the light of problem and scenarios during the British administration need to be revised. Nevertheless one has to understand that besides the call to review citizenship laws in Malaysia the consent of the Conference of Rulers is also needed before such laws could be amended. It is hoped that this research will provide a reference and standard work for anybody wishing to understand on the law of citizenship in Malaysia.