KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 — Malaysia still needs English in the legal field due to the legal system and past laws being in English, minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali has said.
Armizan, who is the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah, Sarawak Affairs and Special Functions), noted that Bahasa Melayu was the official language for states under the Malay rulers, and that Bahasa Melayu had continued to be the official language alongside the use of the English language when the British became the protector for those states.
Armizan said Article 152 of the Federal Constitution had provided for the dignity of the national language — namely the Malay language — after the country’s independence.
“However, in terms of the legal field, Malaysia still needs the English language as our country still uses the legal system of the common law, equity and cases relating to those are in the English language.
“There are many laws of the country, especially laws that were used before Merdeka and laws passed by Parliament after Merdeka until September 1, 1967, which are in the English language, and those laws are still in effect, apart from several laws which have been translated to the Bahasa Melayu,” he said in a written parliamentary reply yesterday.
“Among efforts to dignify the use of Bahasa Melayu in the legal field is the proposal by the Attorney-General’s Chambers for the edition of the Federal Constitution which was translated into Bahasa Melayu to replace the original text in the English language as the authoritative text,” he said.
This parliamentary reply was in response to a question by Parit Buntar MP Mohd Misbahul Munir Masduki, who had asked what are the efforts and measures to uplift the use of Bahasa Malaysia in all matters, especially in finance companies which he claimed still used English in their agreements with clients.
