Before 1965, there was no specific legislation regarding the power to revise and reprint laws. In 1965, the Reprint of Federal Laws Act 1965 (Act 26/1965) was enacted. Section 2 of this Act defined Reprint Commissioner as “the Attorney General for the Federation and includes any other person authorized by him by notification in the Gazette to be a Reprint Commissioner for the purposes of this Act”. The powers of the Reprint Commissioner were contained in section 4 and are similar to the existing powers of reprint in the present law.

Subsequently, the Reprint of Federal Laws Act 1965 was repealed by the Revision of Laws Act 1968 (Act 1) which came into force on 1 January 1969. Act 1 introduced a radical change in the method of law revision which was previously carried out at irregular intervals of several years. In fact the last revision was carried out in 1935. With Act 1, law revision was to be a continuing process.

The system of numbering of laws was also revised. The practice of commencing a new series of numbers for the laws enacted each year was discontinued. Instead a continuing series of numbers, integrated with the numbers allotted to revised laws, was used and remains the current practice. Thus the number allotted to the Revision of Laws Act 1968 was Act 1.

Section 3 of Act 1 states that the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong shall appoint a Commissioner of Law Revision and a Deputy Commissioner. Although it does not specifically confine the appointment to members of the Judicial and Legal Service, the post of the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner has been filled by these officers since August 1996.

Pursuant to Act 1, the Commissioner has the power to revise and reprint laws without however changing the substance of the laws itself.

a) Power of Revision

Subsection 6 (1) of Act 1 empowers the Commissioner amongst others to-

1. omit from any revised law any repealing enactment, any provision in any law which has ceased to have effect, any preamble and any enacting clause;
2. correct grammatical, typographical and similar mistakes;
3. alter, insert or omit punctuation marks in any laws;
4. make such formal alterations as to names, localities, departments, offices, titles and otherwise as may be necessary to bring any laws into conformity with current circumstances;
5. update the terminology and spelling in the national language texts of any laws;
6. delete any word, expression, nomenclature or other provisions in any law which has become obsolete or has ceased to have effect; and
7. shorten or simplify the phraseology of any law.

b) Power of Reprint

The Commissioner’s powers to reprint laws are provided under section 14 of Act 1. Subsection 14(2) states that in preparing a reprint, the Commissioner shall have the same revision powers as contained in the specified paragraphs of subsection 6(1).

Subsection 10(2) of Act 1 provides that on and after the date from which a revised law comes into force, such revised law shall be deemed to be and shall be without any question whatsoever in all courts and for all purposes whatsoever, the sole and only proper law in respect of matters included in it and in force on that date. Such laws are considered as the authoritative text. Pursuant to subsection 14(1) of Act 1, laws that are reprinted are deemed to be the authentic text of the law as in force, on such date as may be so specified.

Subsection 4 (1) of Act 1 provides for the appointment of a Law Revision Committee (“the Committee”) by the Chief Justice of the Federal Court. The Committee comprises not less than five (5) and not more than seven (7) members from amongst the Judges and other persons who in his opinion are suitably qualified for the purpose of examining copies of revised laws in draft.

The Chief Registrar of the Federal Court shall be the Secretary to the Committee.

The Committee is to examine copies of amendments to the revised laws in draft and certify whether the amendments are within the powers of the Commissioner. If the Committee fails to certify within a period of thirty (30) days from the receipt by the Secretary, the amendments shall be deemed to be within the Commissioner’s powers.

The members of the Law Revision Committee are:

1. YAA Tan Sri Richard Malanjum – Chairman

2. YA Dato’ Alauddin bin Dato’ Mohd. Sheriff

3. YA Dato’ Abdul Aziz bin Mohamad

4. YA Datuk Wira Hj. Mohd. Ghazali bin Mohd. Yusoff

5. YA Dato’ Md. Raus bin Shariff

Since 1968, Act 1 has been amended four (4) times as follows:

a) Emergency (Revision of Laws) (Amendment) Ordinance 1970- P.U.(A) 107/70

These amendments were promulgated by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong during the Emergency. The amendments were repealed by, and reproduced in the Revision of Laws (Amendment) Act, 1971 [Act A43].

b) Revision of Laws (Amendment) Act 1971 [Act A43]

The amendments came into force on 30 April 1971. The amendments were-

1. to give the Commissioner additional powers to omit from any revised laws any part of a preamble to a law and to shorten or simplify the phraseology of any law;
2. to delete the requirement that a revised law has to contain a list of amendments. This was because in certain cases, the list was more voluminous than the revised law itself. Further a revised law does not contain any amendments of substance. However, the list will still continue to be supplied to the Law Revision Committee;
3. to dispense with the examination by the Law Revision Committee of subsidiary legislations. In doubtful cases, the Commissioner can arrange for the relevant provisions to be amended by the authority empowered to make the subsidiary legislation; and
4. to give the Commissioner powers of rectification in respect of reprints of laws.

c) Constitutional (Amendment) Act 1994 [Act A885]

By virtue of section 46 of Act A885 , all references in any written law to the Supreme Court shall be construed as references to the Federal Court and references to the Lord President of the Supreme Court are to be construed as references to the Chief Justice of the Federal Court. Section 4 of Act 1 had such references and appropriate modifications had to be done. The amendment came into force on 24 June 1994.

d) Revision of Laws (Amendment) Act 1999 [A1061]

The amendments came into force on 1 October 1998. The amendments were as follows:

1. to amend the definition of “law” to allow for the revision of subsidiary legislation and to introduce the definitions of “reprint” and “revised law”;
2. to amend section 3 to provide for the appointment of a Deputy Commissioner to assist the Commissioner in the carrying out of his duties.
3. to amend section 6 to give wider powers to the Commissioner in preparing a revised law, including the power to update the terminology and spelling in the national language text of a law.
4. to amend section 14 to give additional powers to the Commissioner in preparing a reprint.
5. to introduce section 14A, 14B and 14C-
1. Section 14A provides for the publication of a reprint volume by volume, in any sequence and at such times as the Commissioner deems expedient. This allows for more flexibility in the reprinting of certain laws, especially laws which are frequently used by the general public.
2. Section 14B authorizes the preparation and publication of updates incorporating the latest amendments to a reprint in any sequence and at such times as it deemed expedient. This will enable a reprinted law to contain amendments made to it after its reprint.
3. Section 14C enables the Commissioner to delegate any of his powers under sections 14(2), 14A and 14B of Act 1 to the Deputy Commissioner.

In July 2002, the Research Unit of the Attorney General’s Chambers was merged with the Law Revision Division. The Commissioner’s role has since been expanded to include law reform. The Law Reform section was established to carry out research and examine the laws to-

1. overcome obsolete laws;
2. remove overlapping and anomalies in laws ;
3. achieve uniformity in laws; and
4. modernize Malaysian laws in tandem with globalization.

A review of Act 1 is in the process whereby the reform powers of the Commissioner are to be provided. It will also enable the establishment of ad hoc committees to assist the Commissioner in the discharge of his reform functions.

A Bill to that effect has been prepared. It seeks inter alia to-

1. amend the long title to Act 1 to reflect the law reform function;
2. clarify that the Commissioner is to be appointed from officers of the Judicial and Legal Service;
3. state that the revised and reprinted laws shall be the authoritative texts; and
4. to provide for the reform powers of the Commissioner.