LIBEL LAW IN MALAYSIA: AN OVERVIEW

Book excerpt: Freedom of speech is fundamental to the founding of a democratic country which is distinctly expressed in Article 10 (1) (a) of the Federal Constitution. However, there are restrictions to the rights and freedom as provided for in Article 10 (2) (a) of the Federal Constitution, which exempted or excluded the defamation actions from the said right by passing the Defamation Act 1957 in controlling and ensuring the said rights and freedom of speech are exercised in accordance with the tenets of the law. The researcher intends to concentrate only on one element of defamation under the Defamation Act 1957 and Penal Code (Act 574), i.e., libel. Therefore, this book will focus on the extent of the rights and freedom of speech, and how the libel element plays a significant role in determining the restrictions of freedom of speech. The objectives of conducting this research are to examine the scope, concept, and development of libel, explore the possible harmonisation, and establish recommendations that could be used to enhance the libel law. This book will also focus on bilateral or two-way basis research, i.e., from Malaysian law and Islamic legal perspectives in relation to freedom of speech respectively. Comparative legal research and qualitative methods will be applied in this thesis based on the legal materials, i.e., law reports, legal commentaries, judicial decisions, Quranic verses, As-Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), and opinions derived from Muslim scholars. The general observation is that there are similarities and differences in libel laws according to Malaysian law and Islamic legal principles which can be blended and forming effective Malaysian libel law for the purpose of strengthening the countermeasure against more complicated libel actions and at the same time to balance and integrate the relationship between libel law and freedom of speech, and this may be implemented through the harmonisation processes.