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0 The meaning Of Human Rights

Human rights are "rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled."

Proponents of the concept usually assert that everyone is endowed with

certain entitlements merely by reason of being human.

Human rights are thus conceived in a universalist and egalitarian fashion.

Such entitlements can exist as shared norms of actual human moralities, as

justified moral norms or natural rights supported by strong reasons, or as

legal rights either at a national level or within international law.

(James,2009 ) However, there is no consensus as to precise nature of what

in particular should or should not be regarded as a human right in any of the

preceding senses, and the abstract concept of human rights has been a

subject of intense philosophical debate and criticism.

The modern conception of human rights developed in the aftermath of the

Second World War, in part as a response to the Holocaust, culminating in its

adoption by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations

General Assembly in 1948. However, while the phrase "human rights" is

relatively modern the intellectual foundations of the modern concept can be

traced through the history of philosophy and the concepts of natural law

rights and liberties as far back as the city states of Classical Greece and the

development of Roman Law. The true forerunner of human rights discourse

was the enlightenment concept of natural rights developed by figures such

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 as John Locke and Immanuel Kant and through the political realm in the

United States Bill of Rights and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of

the Citizen.

“
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act

towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. ”

(UDHR) (4)

The Reid Commission's recommendations on fundamental rights were thus

modified, and appear as Part II of the Federal Constitution entitled

"Fundamental Liberties".

1. Article 5 - Life and Liberty of the Person.

2. Article 6 - Prohibition of Slavery and forced labour

3. Article 7 - Protection against retrospective criminal and repeated trials.

4. Article 8 - Equality.

5. Article 9 - Prohibition of Banishment and freedom of movement.

6. Article 10 - Freedom of speech, assembly and association.

7. Article 11 - Freedom of religion.

8. Article 12 - Right to education.

9. Article 13 - Right to property.

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The following articles are classification of human rights under the

Federal Constitution:

Article number: 5

5(1) No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty save in

accordance with law.

5 (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.

5 (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.

5 (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:

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.

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Article (5) Clauses (3) and (4) do not apply to an enemy alien.

Article number: 6

6 (1) No person shall be held in slavery.

6 (2) All forms of forced labour are prohibited, but Parliament may by law

provide for compulsory service for national purposes.

6 (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.

6 (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 number: 7

7(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.

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7 (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 onvicted.

Article number: 8

8(1) All persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection

of the law.

8 (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.

8(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.

8 (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.

8 (5) This Article does not invalidate or prohibit -

8 (5 ) (a) any provision regulating personal law;

8(5) (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;

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8(5) (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;

8(5) (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;

8(5) (e) any provision of a Constitution of a State, being or corresponding to

a provision in force immediately before Merdeka Day;

8(5) (f) any provision restricting enlistment in the Malay Regiment to Malays.

Article number: 9

9(1) No citizen shall be banished or excluded from the Federation.

9 (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.

9 (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 number: 10

10(1)Subject to Clauses (2), (3) and (4) -

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10(1) (a) every citizen has the right to freedom of speech and expression;

10(1) (b) all citizens have the right to assemble peaceably and without arms;

10(1) (c) all citizens have the right to form associations.

10 (2) Parliament may by law impose -

10 (2) (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;

10 (2) (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;

10 (2) (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.

10 (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.

10 (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

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protected by the provisions of Part III, article 152, 153 or 181 otherwise than

in relation to the implementation thereof as may be specified in such law.

Article number: 11

11(1)Every person has the right to profess and practice his religion and,

subject to Clause (4), to propagate it.

11(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.

11 (3) Every religious group has the right -

11 (3) (a) to manage its own religious affairs;

11 (3) (b) to establish and maintain institutions for religious or charitable

purposes; and

11 (3) (c) to acquire and own property and hold and administer it in

accordance with law.

11 (4) State law and in respect of the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur

and Lubuan, federal law may control or restrict the propagation of any

religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the religion of Islam.

11 (5) This Article does not authorize any act contrary to any general law

relating to public order, public health or morality.

Article number: 12

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12 (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 -

12 (1) (a) 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

12 (1) (b) 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).

12 (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.

12 (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.

12 (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.

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Article number: 13

13 (1)No person shall be deprived of property save in accordance with law.

13(2) No law shall provide for the compulsory acquisition or use of property

without adequate compensation.

Reference

 Feldman, David. Civil Liberties & Human Rights in England and Wales.

Oxford University Press. pp. 5.l

 ^ Nickel, James (2009). "Human Rights". in Zalta, Edward N.. The

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2009/entries/rights-human/.

 ^ "Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by General Assembly

resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948".

http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml#a1.

 ^ Freeman, Michael (2002). Human rights: an interdisciplinary approach.

Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 15–17. ISBN 9780745623559.

Federal Constitution Of Malaysia

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