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Background and Purpose: In Malaysia, there is no specific defence for female victims of domestic violence who in the unfortunate event killed their abusive partners due to provocation. In this instance, they can raise the defence of provocation as expressly stated in Exception 1 to section 300 of the Penal Code (Exception 1). Since the defence was not formulated specifically in the context of domestic violence, the application of the defence may not be able to appreciate the uniqueness of female victims of domestic violence. One notable issue is that of cumulative provocation. Exception 1 is silent as to the legal status of cumulative provocation. However, there have been cases where the accused raised cumulative provocation as a defence against the offence of murder. The research therefore, aims to analyse the legal position of cumulative provocation in Malaysia. Methodology: This research employed a doctrinal legal research approach, conducting a thorough analysis of relevant laws, including the Penal Code (Act 574), Homicide Act 1957 (HA 1957), and the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (CJA 2009). In addition to statutory analysis, an examination of case law was undertaken to gain insights into the court’s interpretation of the legal status of cumulative provocation. Furthermore, scholarly writings in this field were examined to provide a thorough understanding of the subject. Findings: The decisions of the Federal Court’s cases of Che Omar bin Che Akhir v Public Prosecutor [2007] 4 MLJ 309 and Public Prosecutor v Surbir Gole [2017] 2 CLJ 621 show that cumulative provocation does not fall under Exception 1. This might lead the court to look only at the events that took place immediately before the killing as a single act. This can lead to a perception that the accused’s response, including female victims of domestic violence to provocation is not sufficiently grave. Hence, it is proposed that the cumulative provocation is given statutory recognition under Exception 1 which allows the circumstances of the accused to be taken into account by the court in deciding the defence of provocation. Contributions: This research contributes to the corpus of legal knowledge on cumulative provocation in domestic violence against women within the legal framework of the criminal justice system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the present generation has more ability to shape the future than every previous generation in modern times. Intergenerational justice in general means meeting the current needs without jeopardising future generations; all generations are eligible to a healthy, balanced environment favourable to human progress and the State has fiduciary obligation to use and manage resources efficiently and further promotes balance and sound environmental policy. The synergy between its citizen and State create relationship known as "social contract", but the word "social contract" has a very diverse and unique connotation in Malaysia. The "social contract" referred to the difficulties and intricate compromises reached between major ethnics in Malaysia regarding their mutual rights and privileges, since independence of Malaysia. The Aboriginal in Malaysia is also known as Orang Asli, their communities frequently associated with negative connotation and sometimes less fortunate when compared to other main ethnics in Malaysia. Over the time government regimes change guard but developments of reasonable policies and other actions that promotes intergenerational justice and sustainable development goal towards Orang Asli seem slow in progress. This paper aims to highlight the issues of plight among Orang Asli in Malaysia as they are the minorities within minority communities. In contrast to empirical research, doctrinal approach which is library-based focusing on reading and analysis of the primary and secondary materials will be applied throughout this study. It is the contention of this paper to promote better wellbeing of Orang Asli communities as part of Malaysia nation building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The internet has become a key hub for communication and information, including drug-related information. Evidence from other nations suggests that medical cannabis is also available online. Yet little is known about medical cannabis dealing on online services in Malaysia. This study examines the current supply and demand of medical cannabis on Malaysian Facebook Pages. Researchers searched for cannabis Facebook Pages in Malay and English between April and June 2022, using the keywords associated with cannabis and marijuana in popular search engines. The Facebook content, including the posts and users' responses to supply and demand information for medical cannabis, were screened and analysed. Subsequently, the contents of the Facebook Pages were categorised into five themes: (1) demand for medical cannabis; (2) testimony; (3) supply information; (4) adverse health effects of medical cannabis; and (5) product types and routes of administration. The findings indicate that medical cannabis is available online and searchable via popular search engines, despite being illegal in Malaysia. A total of 46 Facebook Pages related to cannabis were identified in this study, where 13 pages sell medical cannabis directly, and 3 sell both medical and recreational cannabis. In addition to private messages via Facebook Messenger, most pages share contact details. The information on the sampled Facebook Pages reflected the growing demand and illegal sales of medical cannabis in Malaysia via online platforms since 2012. Thus, there is an urgent need for proper regulations and laws to control medical cannabis usage besides protecting patients against potentially harmful medical cannabis online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is no proper mechanism for monitoring the effectiveness of indigenous legislation and evaluating its application in the day-to-day practice of the public administration and society. This paper firstly identifies and conceptualises the variables of State capacity and, secondly, provides empirical advances that analyse State capacity under each variable to demonstrate in practicing how those variables influence or determine the actual enjoyment of the indigenous peoples’ rights in Malaysia. Toward the purposes of this analysis and from the literature review [14,45], this analysis has identified the following variables: (i) accountability; (ii) legal legitimacy; (iii) political will; and (iv) capacity building and resources. This paper however will focus on the first variable: State accountability. The analysis clearly illustrates the implementation gap in the public administration. In few exceptions, State bureaucracy reacts as a State capitalist or rent-seizing State towards new legislation or policy passed in favour of indigenous peoples and, in doing so, rejects the recognition of the indigenous peoples’ rights.

The usage and values of cannabis, or cannabis for medicinal purposes, have been historically recognised since ancient times. Evidence from clinical research demonstrated the therapeutic advantages of cannabis in an extensively wide area of medicinal aspects. Resultantly, many nations have decided to legalise the medicinal use of cannabis. Despite the international recognition of medical cannabis, Malaysia maintains the status quo of cannabis prohibition as a highly addictive drug with no medicinal value. The Malaysian government argues that the harmful effects of medical cannabis legalisation outweigh the benefits. No review paper has discussed the current research patterns on the impact of medical cannabis legalisation, while thematic review studies on this issue are limited. Therefore, this article synthesised literature from 2017 to 2021 to identify research patterns and recent academic discussions on the impact of medical cannabis legalisation. A keyword search and screening process utilising Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases inclusion criteria yielded 718 peer-reviewed academic journal articles. Nonetheless, only 72 articles were selected for final evaluation following the exclusion and inclusion process. The thematic review of the 72 publications identified 19 preliminary codes on the impact of medical cannabis legalisation. The ATLAS.ti 9 software was utilised to conduct the theme analysis review of the selected articles. The quantitative results presented the research patterns of the impact of medical cannabis legalisation. Additionally, the qualitative analysis generated five main themes developed in the literature on the impact of medical cannabis legalisation, namely (1) impact on health, (2) impact on policy, (3) impact on society, (4) impact on health system, and (5) impact on criminal activities. The findings will benefit future studies on implementing medical cannabis law (MCL) in Malaysia. Unfortunately, this study is limited to Scopus and WoS databases, and the impact of recreational cannabis legalisation is not included. The findings may benefit future research on medical cannabis legalisation and the suitable regulatory framework of medical cannabis policy for Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigative detention plays a significant role in the Malaysian criminal justice system. At this stage, a suspect is still presumed innocent until proven guilty. However, there are situations where a suspect is detained for a long period for having more than one police report lodged against the suspect (further offenses). Such detention is referred to as chain remand. The practice of chain remand represents a blatant abuse of power by the Royal Malaysian Police and it is an infringement of an individual’s fundamental human rights both under the Federal Constitution of Malaysia and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This practice exploits the existing loopholes and abuses the remand proceedings in order to unlawfully detain a person under the veil of legality. Therefore, this article will highlight the experience of investigating officers who have handled chain remand cases. This study recommends the specific laws of chain remand be regulated to prevent police officers from continuing to be accused of abusing their power. The methodology of this study is based on semi-structured interviews with 18 investigating officers who have experience conducting chain remand cases in Malaysia. Besides the interview, the author also used the comparative-legal method to look at the application of law in countries other than Malaysia. The results of this study show that there are weaknesses and loopholes in the existing legislation when the existing legislation fails to curb the problem of chain remand. Nevertheless, legal weaknesses are not the only factors contributing to the problem of chain remand practice; there are other factors such as the non-existence of clear guidelines to manage the chain remand cases, the difficulty of obtaining good cooperation from the complainant who lodged the police report, the inadequacy of courses to assist the police in carrying out their duties more smoothly, and the role of the prosecutor and the courts to expedite the order process involving chain remand cases. Therefore, this study indicates the importance of the existing laws, specifically on chain remand, in addition to suggesting other improvements related to chain remand to solve this problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: Under the criminal justice system, the burden lies on the prosecution to prove the guilt of the accused. It is worth noting that a criminal trial is not one-sided; it also allows the accused to raise his defence to prove his innocence. The research aims to analyse the right of the accused to raise a defence and when the defence should be raised in a criminal trial process in Malaysia. Methodology: This research adopts a legal research approach involving a detailed analysis of the relevant legal provisions, case law and scholarly writing related to this area. Findings: The research found that the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) (Act 593) is silent as to when the defence should be raised. That being said, with reference to the Supreme Court's case of Lin Lian Chen v. Public Prosecutor [1992] 1 CLJ 285 (Rep), the accused should introduce his defence at the earliest stage as possible. Failing this may give rise to the presumption that the defence raised was a mere invention. Although the principle has been regarded as a law in raising defence, there are still cases where the accused did not present the defence at an earlier stage. Contributions: This research contributes to the corpus of legal knowledge of criminal defence, particularly on raising criminal defence in a criminal trial with the aim of providing better protection for the accused in the criminal justice system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many years, the indigenous peoples had been experiencing various acts of marginalisation and discrimination. However, to this day, the definitions and rights of the indigenous peoples in certain jurisdictions are still left ambiguous. These rights includes the right to self-determination which, on the surface, is linked to freedom to choose political status and cultural or economical development and can be considered as one of the vital rights for indigenous peoples as it allows the community to decide on various aspects of their lives. Looking beyond that, this concept can be further classified into external and internal self-determination and each country may adopt a different approach to this right. As Greenland has a relatively higher population of indigenous peoples, the laws and regulations on indigenous peoples can be distinct. Therefore, this study examines the availability of self-determination policies and possible issues on it's implementation in Greenland in comparison to the rights of the Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia. By using critical legal analysis, this study provides an insight to the exercise of self-determination rights of the indigenous peoples in other jurisdiction and the relevancy of the same right in Malaysia which can help to identify certain aspects to be improved on in the existing national indigenous peoples' rights laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]