The legislation sector is a sector under the Attorney General’s Chambers which deals with the drafting, revisions and reforms of legislation for the Government of Malaysia. The legislation sector of the Attorney General’s Chambers consists of two divisions, namely the Drafting Division and the Law Revision and Law Reform Division.
The Drafting Division started in 1960s at the Sultan Abdul Samad Building in Kuala Lumpur. Over the years, the Drafting Division has grown from having only five officers in 1964 to its current strength of 81 officers and staff. The Drafting Division is headed by the Parliamentary Draftsman, who is assisted by the Deputy Parliamentary Draftsman I and the Deputy Parliamentary Draftsman II.
The Drafting Division is divided into 7 units that are entrusted with the drafting/vetting of legislation from the respective Federal Ministries or Federal Government agencies. Each unit consists of a Unit Head and several Senior Assistant Parliamentary Draftsmen and Assistant Parliamentary Draftsmen.
The Drafting Division is responsible to ensure that the Bills drafted/vetted for tabling in Parliament are consistent with the Federal Constitution and are in accordance with legislative drafting norms. At the same time, the Drafting Division ensures that all subsidiary legislation drafted/vetted by the Drafting Division are not ultra-vires any Act/Ordinance and are in accordance with the legislative drafting norms.
The Drafting Division drafts/vets Bills and subsidiary legislation in the national language and English language, and ensures that both the national language and the English language texts of all legislation are accurate, in accordance with legislative syntax and comply with grammatical norms.
Through its Client’s Charter, the Drafting Division is committed to ensure that the primary and subsidiary legislation are published in the e-Gazette portal within an agreed period between the client and the Drafting Division and that the legislation are error-free in every aspect.
The Law Revision and Law Reform Division (LRRD) was initially established as the Law Revision Division. In July 2002, the Law Revision Division was merged with the Research Unit of the Attorney General’s Chambers and was renamed as the Law Revision and Law Reform Division.
The Head of LRRD is the Commissioner of Law Revision and Law Reform assisted by two Deputy Commissioners of Law Revision and Law Reform. Currently, LRRD consists of 24 officers and 31 staffs.
The main functions of LRRD are to prepare and publish revised laws and reprints in both the national and English languages. LRRD is also tasked to extend the laws applicable in Peninsular Malaysia to Sabah, Sarawak and the Federal Territories, translate the English language texts of the pre-1967 laws to the national language texts and reform the laws.
LRRD is divided into two Sections, namely, the Law Revision Section and the Law Reform Section. The Law Revision Section consists of the Revision Unit, Reprint Unit and Extension and Translation Unit. The Law Reform Section, on the other hand, consists of the Criminal Law Unit, Civil Law Unit and Miscellaneous Law Unit.
Drafting Division
Article 145 Federal Constitution
The Law Revision and Law Reform Division
Revision of Laws Act 1968 [Act 1]
The appointments of the Commissioner of Law Revision and Deputy Commissioner of Law Revision are by virtue of section 3 of Act 1.
The roles and responsibilities of the legislation sector are as follows:
Drafting Division
- Drafting and vetting principal legislation, subsidiary legislation and amending legislation in the national language and English language.
- Provide legal advice on the proposed principal legislation, subsidiary legislation and amending legislation.
- Prepare Cabinet Memoranda on certain bills.
- Provide comments of the Attorney General’s Chambers on Cabinet Memoranda referred to by federal ministries, departments and agencies.
- Prepare bills in the national language and English language to be tabled in Parliament.
- Assist federal ministries, departments and agencies to table bills in Parliament.
- Prepare signature copy of bills for royal assent and executive summary for signature copy.
- Prepare principal legislation, subsidiary legislation and amending legislation for publication in the e-Federal Gazette and the Government Gazette.
- Translate legal documents from the English language to the national language.
- Provide input for parliamentary questions and motions.
The Law Revision and Law Reform Division
(a) Law Revision Section:
(i) Revision Unit
The Revision Unit is responsible to revise the laws of Malaysia pursuant to the powers of the Commissioner of Law Revision as provided under paragraphs 6(1)(i) to (xxiv) of Act 1. The format of a revised text is provided under section 7 of Act 1. In exercising its powers, the Commissioner of Law Revision shall, amongst others, update the language and terms used in the national language texts, standardize the texts according to the current format of laws, and summarise the provision of laws without changing the actual meaning of each provisions.
These revised laws successfully created the numbering system of Acts in Malaysia which resulted in the simplification of the updating and searching of laws in Malaysia to become more systematic. Revision of laws, especially on the pre-1969 laws, is crucial as the gazetted revised laws will become enforceable to replace the existing law. The publication of the revised laws will ease the reference and reading for both the legal practitioners as well as the public;
(ii) Reprint Unit
The Reprint Unit is responsible to reprint and update the laws of Malaysia, including the subsidiary legislations, pursuant to the powers of the Commissioner of Law Revision as provided under section 14 of Act 1. The Laws of Malaysia (LOM) Series was established under section 7 of Act 1 and the list of laws gazetted thereunder are arranged according to the systematic numbering to simplify its search. LOM is available in both printed and online versions in the Attorney General’s Chambers portal. The online version of LOM often receives high number of “hits” as it is easily accessible and frequently updated; and
(iii) Extension and Translation Unit
The Extension and Translation Unit is responsible to prepare the orders of the extension and modification of the laws applicable in Peninsular Malaysia to Sabah and Sarawak pursuant to section 74 of the Malaysia Act 1963 and to the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya pursuant to the Constitution (Amendment) (No.2) Act 1973 [Act A206], Constitution (Amendment) (No.2) Act 1984 [Act A585] and Constitution (Amendment) Act 2001 [Act A1095], respectively.
The Extension and Translation Unit is also responsible to translate the English language texts of the pre-1967 laws to the national language texts pursuant to section 7 of the National Language Act 1963/67 [Act 32]; and
(b) Law Reform Section
The Law Reform Section conducts studies on the current laws and makes recommendations for reform to the respective stake holders which may include amendments to certain laws and enactments of new laws. The recommendations for reform are technical in nature which require in-depth and detailed studies.
The Law Reform Section is also responsible to carry out other various studies including studies on archaic laws to determine whether to repeal, revise or reform such laws. These studies are conducted continuously and are carried out in phases.
In conducting the relevant studies, the Law Reform Section will conduct detailed researches which include conducting comparative studies with the current position in other jurisdictions, conducting discussions with the relevant stakeholders such as the judiciary, the Bar Council, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and associations, and requesting for feedbacks from the Ministries, Departments, other agencies and States, if necessary.
