British and Commonwealth legacies in the framing of the Malayan constitution, 1956–1957

Abstract

The drafting of a constitution is a complex consultative process. No country, including the United States and India, can claim that its constitution was entirely the original creation of its draftsmen. Framers of constitutions are inspired and influenced by a variety of sources from ancient and modern forms of government and laws. The 1957 Malayan federal constitution drafted by the Reid commission was no exception. While it is known that the drafting of the Malayan (now Malaysian) constitution was influenced by Commonwealth constitutions, the extent of this influence has remained unclear. This article reveals through a close scrutiny of the primary constitutional documents that the framing of the Malayan constitution was mainly influenced by three connected yet varied sources of constitutionalism. Their influences can be discerned at two inter-related levels. At the first level, it is clear that the underlying constitutional principles which formed the foundations of the Malayan constitution were largely based on English constitutionalism and principles of Common law. At the second and more visible level, this article reveals that the drafting of the Malayan constitution was largely influenced by two contemporary Commonwealth constitutions which served as the main reference templates for the framing of the articles.