The Malaysian Bar - Constitutional Law Committee (Constilc)- Blueprint 2009-2011

Home

Committees

Constitutional Law Committee

Constitutional Law Committee (Constilc)- Blueprint 2009-2011

Tuesday, 21 July 2009 04:42pm

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW COMMITTEE (ConstiLC)

BLUEPRINT 2009-2011

I. Vision and Mission

To:

promote the concept of constitutionalism and the rule of just law;

raise awareness of, educate and empower the rakyat on provisions of the Federal Constitution;

document and respond to constitutional issues that arise;

discuss and critique Court decisions on constitutional issues, and where necessary, offer alternative interpretations;

conduct research on matters related to the Federal Constitution and/or State Constitutions and where necessary, make recommendations for constitutional reform;

assist and advice the Bar Council on constitutional matters.

II. Initiative

To:

conduct a national campaign - “MyConstitution” Campaign or Kempen “ PerlembagaanKu” - which includes:

a. producing a series of rakyat service advertisements on selected provisions of the Federal Constitution;

b. publishing a pocket-sized, layperson's guide of the Federal Constitution;

c. hosting a series of awareness-raising and interest-building programmes on the Federal Constitution through symposiums, dialogues, forums and lectures;

d. publishing a series of articles on the Federal Constitution for publication by the media;

e. working to make copies of the Federal Constitution available to and accessible by the rakyat adopting the benchmark of “1Family 1Constitution” ;

f. where necessary, publishing a policy paper with recommendations for constitutional reform.

III. Areas of Focus

On:

how the Federal Constitution defines and is linked with:

- the concept of separation of powers

- the rule of just law

- the powers and limits of constitutional institutions

- an elected government

- the role of elected representatives in Parliament and State Assemblies

- fundamental liberties

- democracy

the relationship between Federal and State Governments, e.g. the division of legislative and executive powers, control over natural resources and local government issues

the need to expressly embody and guarantee economic, social and cultural rights of the rakyat in the Federal Constitution, i.e. the right to food, water, housing, health, work and clean environment