Constitution

Malaysia 1957 Constitution (reviewed 2007)

Table of Contents

PART XIII. TEMPORARY AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

162. Existing laws

  1. Subject to the following provisions of this Article and Article 163* [note – this article has been repealed], the existing laws shall, until repealed by the authority having power to do so under this Constitution, continue in force on and after Merdeka Day, with such modifications as may be made therein under this Article and subject to any amendments made by federal or State law.
  2. Where any State law amends or repeals an existing law made by the Legislature of a State, nothing in Article 75 shall invalidate the amendment or repeal by reason only that the existing law, relating to a matter with regard to which Parliament as well as the Legislature of a State has power to make laws, is federal law as defined by Article 160.
  3. References in any existing law to the Federation established by the Federation of Malaya Agreement, 1948, and its territories, and to any officer holding office under that Federation or to any authority or body constituted in or for that Federation (including any references falling to be construed as such references by virtue of Clause 135 of the said Agreement) shall be construed, in relation to any time on and after Merdeka Day, as references to the Federation (that is to say, the Federation established under the Federation of Malaya Agreement, 1957) and its territories and to the corresponding officer, authority or body respectively; and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong may by order declare what officer, authority or body is to be taken for the purposes of this Clause to correspond to any officer, authority or body referred to in any existing law.
  4. (Repealed).
  5. Any order made under Clause (4) may be amended or repealed by the authority having power to make laws with respect to the matter to which the order relates.
  6. Any court or tribunal applying the provision of any existing law has not been modified on or after Merdeka Day under this Article or otherwise may apply it with such modifications as may be necessary to bring it into accord with the provisions of this Constitution.
  7. In this Article “modification” includes amendment, adaptation and repeal.

163. Repealed

164. Repealed

165. Repealed

166. Succession to property

  1. (Repealed).
  2. (Repealed).
  3. Any land vested in the State of Malacca or the State of Penang which immediately before Merdeka Day was occupied or used by the Federation Government or Her Majesty’s Government or by any public authority for purposes which in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution become federal purposes shall on and after that day be occupied, used, controlled and managed by the Federal Government or, as the case may be, the said public authority, so long as it is required for federal purposes, and-
    1. shall not be disposed of or used for any purposes other than federal purposes without the consent of the Federal Government; and
    2. shall not be used for federal purposes different from the purposes for which it was used immediately before Merdeka Day without the consent of the Government of the State.
  4. (Repealed).
  5. (Repealed).
  6. (Repealed).
  7. (Repealed).
  8. Any property which was, immediately before Merdeka Day, liable to escheat to Her Majesty in respect of the Government of Malacca or the Government of Penang shall on that day be liable to escheat to the State of Malacca or the State of Penang, as the case may be.

167. Rights, liabilities and obligations

  1. (Repealed).
  2. (Repealed).
  3. (Repealed).
  4. (Repealed).
  5. (Repealed).
  6. The Attorney General shall, on the application of any party interested in any legal proceedings, other than proceedings between the Federation and a State, certify whether any right, liability or obligation is by virtue of this Article a right, liability or obligation of the Federation or of a State named in the certificate, and any such certificate shall for the purposes of those proceedings be final and binding on all courts, but shall not operate to prejudice the rights and obligations of the Federation and any State as between themselves.
  7. The Federation shall make the like annual payments as fell to be made before Merdeka Day under Article II of the Treaty made on the sixth day of May, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, between Her Majesty of the one part and the King of Siam of the other part relative to the State of Kedah.

168. Repealed

169. International agreements, etc., made before Merdeka Day

For the purposes of Clause (1) of Article 76-

  1. any treaty, agreement or convention entered into before Merdeka Day between Her Majesty or her predecessors or the Government of the United Kingdom on behalf of the Federation or any part thereof and another country shall be deemed to be a treaty, agreement or convention between the federation and that other country;
  2. any decision taken by an international organisation and accepted before Merdeka Day by the Government of the United Kingdom on behalf of the Federation or any part thereof shall be deemed to be a decision of an international organisation of which the Federation is a member;
  3. in relation to the States of Sabah and Sarawak paragraphs (a) and (b) shall apply with the substitution of references to Malaysia Day for the references to Merdeka Day and of references to the territories comprised in those States or any of them for the references to the Federation or any part thereof.

170. Repealed

171. Repealed

172. Repealed

173. Repealed

174. Repealed

175. Director of Audit to be first Auditor General

The person holding office as Director of Audit immediately before Merdeka Day shall, as from that day, hold office as Auditor General on terms and conditions not less favourable than those applicable to him immediately before Merdeka Day.

176. Transfer of officers

  1. Subject to the provisions of this Constitution and any existing law, all persons serving in connection with the affairs of the Federation immediately before Merdeka Day shall continue to have the same powers and to exercise the same functions on Merdeka Day on the same terms and conditions as were applicable to them immediately before that day.
  2. This Article does not apply to the High Commissioner or the Chief Secretary.

177. Waiver or postponement of oath of office where appointment continues under this Part

A person who, under any provisions of this Part, holds office under the Federation by virtue of having been the holder of a corresponding office immediately before Merdeka Day may, until Parliament otherwise provides, perform his functions without taking the oath required in the case of other holders of that office.

178. Remuneration after Merdeka Day

Until Parliament otherwise provides, the remuneration payable to the persons holding the offices of Prime Minister and other Ministers shall be the same as was payable, immediately before Merdeka Day, to the Chief Minister and other Ministers of the Federation respectively.

179. Contributions in respect of joint services

Any agreement in force immediately before Merdeka Day relating to the proportion of the remuneration payable by the Federation and any State in respect of any such employment as is mentioned in Clause (2) of Article 133 shall continue in force until superseded by a new agreement or federal law.

180. Preservation of pensions, etc

  1. The Tenth Schedule to the Federation of Malaya Agreement, 1948, shall continue in force on and after Merdeka Day, but with the modification that any reference therein to the High Commissioner shall be construed as a reference to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
  2. The said Schedule shall for the purposes of this Constitution be deemed to be federal law and may, subject to the provisions of Article 147, be amended and repealed accordingly.
  3. In its application to any law made under Clause (2) of Article 147 shall have effect as if references therein to an award included compensation.
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