Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi is the holder of the Tunku Abdul Rahman Foundation Chair
I. CONCEPT OF A LEGAL SYSTEM A legal system refers to the overall legal regime of a country. It provides institutions, principles, rules and methods for regulating the relationship between law and society. It describes law’s connection with authority and with morality. It describes the sources from which the law springs. It provides the procedures and methods for making law and resolving disputes. It encompasses the institutions, principles and procedures for the exercise of power and the limits thereon. It includes a set of laws and the manner in which the laws are interpreted and enforced. It outlines the rights, responsibilities, and duties of citizens towards each other and towards the state. It provides for the imposition of punishments. It provides for the classification of laws into various categories (civil law and criminal law, public law and private law, procedural law and substantive law, the law of tort and law of contract) and the differences and similarities between these categories. Over the millennium, the world has known many types of legal systems. The oldest were built on custom and religion. In modern times, it is believed that there are six primary categories of legal systems; civil law systems, common law systems, religious systems, customary systems and supranational systems, and mixtures of the five. The choice of one or the other is affected by history, politics, and social traditions.
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25/11/2017 8 Comments Legal Profession in the Age of Disruption: 5 Key Discussions in 'LexTech Conference 2017'LexTech Conference 2017 is a regional legal conference gathering Southeast Asia's leading legal technology futurists.
News about the rise of revolutionary and industry-changing legal technologies (“Lextech”) have swept the globe and rightfully caused a great deal of unease among members of the legal profession in Malaysia. On the 4th and 5th of November, current and future members of the legal profession and regional leaders in the Lextech industry converged in Cyberjaya for the Lextech Conference 2017, titled ‘The Future of Law’, co-organised by CanLaw and Brickfield Asia College. Many came to the conference looking for answers, which the panel of esteemed, experienced, and accomplished speakers tried their best to provide. A broad array of topics, ranging from Lextech, Blockchain, Smart Contracts, Artificial Intelligence, and the future of the legal industry were discussed in depth. This article aims to give a detailed overview of the 5 key areas of discussion during the event. I. Introduction
On the 20th of December 2016, the Federal Court in Putrajaya reversed the decisions of both the Court of Appeal and High Court of Sibu in the case of Director of Forest, Sarawak & Anor v TR Sandah & Ors[1]. The appellant in the case was the State Government while the Respondents were the Ibans and natives of Sarawak. The respondents claimed Native Customary Rights (NCR) over 5,639 hectares of land which the Respondents and their ancestors inherited by virtue of the Iban custom of pemakai menoa and pulau galau. The subordinate courts initially granted the Respondents NCR over the claimed area of land in Kanowit-Ngemah, Sarawak before the Federal Court reversed the decision and deprived the natives of their NCR. This commentary aims to simplify and analyse the judgment made in the Federal Court regarding the TR Sandah case and its impact onto the natives of Sarawak’s rights to land. |
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