14.1

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Outline of the legal environment in Malaysia

14.1.1 The constitutional structure of Malaysia

Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy with a federal system of government. Having its origins in the Malay Kingdom, in the 18th century much of Malaysia was colonised by the British as part of the Straits Settlements (comprising Penang, Singapore and Malacca, and by the 19th century, states in Peninsula Malaysia).1 In 1946, Peninsular Malaysia unified to become the Malayan Union. On 31 August 1957, the Malayan Union achieved independence from Great Britain (known as Merdeka Day) and was restructured as the Federation of Malaya.2 In 1963, the Federation of Malaya merged