In plain English
Not legal adviceAmong other things, the Federal Constitution says no person may lose life or personal liberty except as the law allows. A high court that gets a complaint of unlawful detention must look into it. Unless satisfied the detention is lawful, the court must order the person brought before it and released. An arrested person must be told the grounds of arrest and may consult a lawyer of their choice. A person held after arrest must generally be brought before a magistrate within twenty-four hours, not counting necessary travel time.
Summary · Drafted with AI, checked against the official text on 30 Sep 2026.
Part I
Official textFrom Laws of Malaysia Online, unchanged
art 1Name, States and territories of the Federation
The Federation shall be known, in Malay and in English, by the name Malaysia.
The States of the Federation shall be—
the States of Malaya, namely, Johore, Kedah, Kelantan,
Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis,
Selangor and Terengganu; and
the Borneo States, namely, Sabah and Sarawak.
Subject to Clause (4), the territories of each of the States mentioned in Clause (2) are the territories comprised therein immediately before Malaysia Day.
The territory of the State of Selangor shall exclude the
Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur established under the Constitution
(Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1973 [Act A206] and the Federal Territory of Putrajaya established under the Constitution (Amendment) Act 2001 [Act A1095] and the territory of the State of Sabah shall exclude the Federal Territory of Labuan established under the
Constitution (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1984 [Act A585], and all such Federal Territories shall be territories of the Federation.
art 2Admission of new territories into the Federation
Parliament may by law—
admit other States to the Federation;
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.
Islam is the religion of the Federation; but other religions may be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation.
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 of that State, and, subject to that Constitution, all rights, privileges, prerogatives and powers enjoyed by him as Head of that religion, are unaffected and unimpaired; but in any acts, observances 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.
The Constitution of the States of Malacca, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak shall each make provision for conferring on the
Yang di-Pertuan Agong the position of Head of the religion of
Islam in that State.
Nothing in this Article derogates from any other provision of this Constitution.
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, Labuan and Putrajaya;
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.
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.
The validity of any law shall not be questioned on the ground that—
it imposes restrictions on the right mentioned in Clause (2)
of Article 9 but does not relate to the matters mentioned therein; or 20
Art. 1
The present Article without Clause (4) was inserted by Act 26/1963, section 4, in force from 16-09-1963 (i.e. when Malaysia was established). The original Article as it stood on Merdeka
Day read as follows:
“1. (1) The Federation shall be known by the name of Persekutuan Tanah Melayu (in
English the Federation of Malaya).
The States of the Federation are Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang,
Perak, Perlis, Selangor and Terengganu (formerly known as the Malay States) and Malacca and Penang (formerly known as the Settlements of Malacca and Penang).
The territories of each of the States mentioned in Clause (2) are the territories of that State immediately before Merdeka Day.”.
Clause (2)
a. Act 59/1966, section 2, in force from 09-08-1965 (i.e. the date Singapore left Malaysia)
amended Clause (2) by deleting therefrom paragraph (c) which read as follows:
“(c) the State of Singapore.”.
b. This Clause was substituted by Act A354, section 2, in force from 27-08-1976.
This Clause before its substitution by Act A354 was amended by Act 26/1963, section 4, in force from 16-09-1963 (i.e. when Malaysia was established) read as follows:
“(2) The States of the Federation shall be—
the States of Malaya, namely, Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca,
Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis, Selangor and Terengganu;
the Borneo States, namely, Sabah and Sarawak; and
the State of Singapore.”.
it imposes such restrictions as are mentioned in
Clause (2) of Article 10 but those restrictions were not deemed necessary or expedient by Parliament for the purposes mentioned in that Article.
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—
if the law was made by Parliament, in proceedings between the Federation and one or more States;
if the law was made by the Legislature of a State, in proceedings between the Federation and that State.
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 Federal 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
Part III
Chapter 1
Acquisition of Citizenship
Chapter 2
Termination of Citizenship
Chapter 3
Supplemental
Part IV
Chapter 1
The Supreme Head
Chapter 2
The Conference of Rulers
Chapter 3
The Executive
Chapter 4
Federal Legislature
Chapter 5
Legislative procedure
Chapter 6
Capacity as respects property, contracts and suits
Part V
Part VI
Chapter 1
Distribution of legislative powers
Chapter 2
Distribution of executive powers
Chapter 3
Distribution of financial burdens
Chapter 4
Land
Chapter 5
National development
Chapter 6
Federal surveys, advice to States and inspection of State activities
Chapter 7
National Council for Local Government
Chapter 8
Application to States of Sabah and Sarawak
Part VII
Chapter 1
General
Chapter 2
Application to States of Sabah and Sarawak
Part VIII
Part IX
Part X
Part XI
Part II
Part II, and Article 79 shall not apply to any Bill for such a law or any amendment to such a Bill.”.
Part XII
Part XIII
Part XIV
Part XV
Part XV
Part XV, Art. 182 & 183
Part III
Part III: 14-04-1984
Part II