Peculiar laws that affect Malaysians

Did you know that there is a law to punish a man for seducing a married woman and an entire act of parliament related to an order of Catholic nuns?

PETALING JAYA: While Malaysians may generally perceive the bulk of the country’s laws to be nothing out of the ordinary, very few are aware of some eccentric pieces of legislation that can be said to stand out for their quirkiness and oddity.

Indeed, the country is not without its fair share of peculiar laws – from a provision that punishes those who seduce married women to one which penalises the conduct of insulting, from a whole act to establish a corporate body for an order of Catholic nuns to a clause that criminalises sexual actions of certain kinds.

Not many know that there is a law to forbid an adult male from “enticing” another man’s wife for sexual relations.

Last month, a Sri Lankan man was accused of seducing a married woman under Section 498 of the Penal Code at the Kuantan Magistrate’s Court.

The provision, adopted from the Indian Penal Code to deter adultery among married people, makes it an offence to entice a married woman for “illicit intercourse”. Those found guilty face a jail term of up to two years or fine, or both.

Lawyer Akberdin Abdul Kadeer said the provision might have been put in place to protect the sanctity of marriage.

He, however, said the public prosecutor’s office needed to provide proof after having charged the Sri Lankan man under the act instead of having a private summons issued against him.

In 2009, Akberdin had represented recording label director Darren Choy who was hit with a private summons by the then husband of TV host Daphne Iking over an alleged relationship he had had with her.

Choy challenged the validity of the section at the Federal Court, disputing it on grounds of equality as it “criminalised” men while protecting the fairer sex from the offence of “enticing”, Akberdin said.

“We wanted to tell the court: Why can only men be guilty of enticing and not women? We said it was unequal,” he told FMT.

The court refused to hear his challenge and ordered Choy to stand trial. The husband, Ryan Chong, however, later withdrew the summons.

RM100 fine for ‘insulting’

Another unusual piece of law is Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act which deals with “insulting behaviour”.

In Sept 2015, activist Bilqis Hijjas was prosecuted for dropping yellow balloons with the words “justice” and “freedom” on them at an event attended by the prime minister and his wife Rosmah Mansor in a shopping mall.

The charge under Section 14, which carries a maximum fine of RM100 upon conviction, was criticised by various parties, including the Malaysian Bar and the DAP.

Bilqis, who had claimed trial, was eventually freed last year as the prosecution failed to prove a case against her.

Section 14 came into the limelight again in November last year when eight men, including the son of a deputy minister, were charged after they had allegedly hurled abuse at Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad at the Parliament complex’s car park.

They were among 20 to 30 men who reportedly harassed the Amanah MP as he arrived for a Dewan Rakyat session, believed to be over a verbal spat between him and the deputy minister, Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, a few days earlier in the house.

Lawyer Salehuddin Saidin told FMT that laws for “petty” offences like those covered under Section 14 were still needed although they might seem irrelevant.

The former deputy public prosecutor said some alleged offences might not have the level of seriousness for action to be taken under the Penal Code, making them more suited to be dealt with as “minor offences”.

Asked if a criminal case could be “undermined” if the Attorney-General (AG) decided to press charges under the Minor Offences Act instead of the Penal Code, Salehuddin said the AG had absolute discretion under the law to press whatever charges deemed fit based on the circumstances.

He said charges under the Minor Offences Act were meant to serve as a lesson and not to penalise wrongdoers in a major way.

However, those who repeat the offence will be subject to the more severe Penal Code.

“An accused would face a hefty fine and likely a time in jail if charged under the Penal Code for a spat with a public authority,” he added, citing the case of a couple sentenced to five months in jail in January this year for deterring a Shah Alam City Council enforcement officer from performing her duty.

A whole act for a Catholic nunnery order

There is a quaint legislation which sounds as though it is to govern nuns, but is not so.

The Good Shepard Nuns (Incorporated) Act, passed by Parliament in 1973, refers to the setting up of a corporate body called the Sister Superior of the Good Shepherd Nuns.

“It is not a law for nuns in general to associate or allow them to hold office. It has nothing on government (for) governing the sisters,” lawyer Andy Yong said.

Yong, who is also Catholic, said the law gives legal effect to the office of the Sister Superior to contract on behalf of the congregation of Good Shepherd Nuns who are recognised by the Vatican.

The act also allows all properties situated in Malaysia under the Sister Superior of the Good Shepherd Nuns to be vested in the corporation.

Sex against the order of nature

Many people may still not be aware that oral and anal sex acts are illegal under the Penal Code as they are deemed to be not in line with what nature had intended for human body parts.

“The Penal Code was framed to suit the purpose of the mouth and anus which are for food consumption and passing motion respectively,” said lawyer Kitson Foong.

“Any other purposes besides that are ‘not what God had intended’ no matter how ‘pleasurable’ they are as claimed,” he told FMT.

He also said it was “nowhere possible” for the crimes to be removed from the country’s laws.

“We are a country that is bound by religious influence and rules centred on religious principles,” he said. -FMT