Paragraph 264
…article 6 of the Constitution of Malaysia that no person shall be held in slavery anywhere in Malaysia and that all forms of forced labour are prohibited.
5. Liberty of the person
(1) No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty save in accordance with law.
(2) Where complaint is made to a High Court or any judge thereof that a person is being unlawfully detained the court shall inquire into the complaint and, unless satisfied that the detention is lawful, shall order him to be produced before the court and release him.
(3) Where a person is arrested he shall be informed as soon as may be of the grounds of his arrest and shall be allowed to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of his choice.
6. Slavery and forced labour prohibited
(1) No person shall be held in slavery.
(2) All forms of forced labour are prohibited, but Parliament may by law provide for compulsory service for national purposes.
(3) Work or service required from any person as a consequence of a conviction or a finding of guilt in a court of law shall not be taken to be forced labour within the meaning of this Article, provided that such work or service is carried out under the supervision and control of a public authority.
(4) Where by any written law the whole or any part of the functions of any public authority is to be carried on by another public authority, for the purpose of enabling those functions to be performed the employees of the first-mentioned public authority shall be bound to serve the second-mentioned public authority, and their service with the second-mentioned public authority shall not be taken to be forced labour within the meaning of this Article, and no such employee shall be entitled to demand any right from either the first-mentioned or the second-mentioned public authority by reason of the transfer of his employment.
9. Prohibition of banishment and freedom of movement
(1) No citizen shall be banished or excluded from the Federation.
(2) Subject to Clause (3) and to any law relating to the security of the Federation or any part thereof, public order, public health, or the punishment of offenders, every citizen has the right to move freely throughout the Federation and to reside in any part thereof.
(3) So long as under this Constitution any other State is in a special position as compared with the States of Malaya, Parliament may by law impose restrictions, as between that State and other States, on the rights conferred by Clause (2) in respect of movement and residence.
Federal Constitution (PDF)
360. Kidnapping from Malaysia
Whoever conveys any person beyond the limits of Malaysia without the consent of that person, or of some person legally authorized to consent on behalf of that person, is said to kidnap that person from Malaysia.
362. Abduction
Whoever by force compels or by any deceitful means induces any person to go from any place, is said to abduct that person.
363. Punishment for kidnapping
Whoever kidnaps any person from Malaysia or from lawful guardianship, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.
365. Kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine a person
Whoever kidnaps or abducts any person with intent to cause that person to be secretly and wrongfully confined, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.
366. Kidnapping or abducting a woman to compel her marriage, etc.
Whoever kidnaps or abducts any woman with intent that she may be compelled, or knowing it to be likely that she will be compelled to marry any person against her will, or in order that she may be forced or seduced to illicit intercourse, or to a life of prostitution, or knowing it to be likely that she will be forced or seduced to illicit intercourse, or to a life of prostitution, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
367. Kidnapping or abducting in order to subject a person to grievous hurt, slavery, etc.
Whoever kidnaps or abducts any person in order that such person may be subjected, or may be so disposed of as to be put in danger of being subjected to grievous hurt or slavery, or to the unnatural lust of any person, or knowing it to likely that such person will be so subjected or disposed of, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
368. Wrongfully concealing or keeping in confinement a kidnapped person
Whoever, knowing that any person has been kidnapped or has been abducted, wrongfully conceals or keeps such person in confinement, shall be punished in the same manner as if he had kidnapped or abducted such person with the same intention or knowledge or for the same purpose as that with or for which he conceals or detains such person in confinement.
370. Buying or disposing of any person as a slave
Whoever imports, exports, removes, buys, sells or disposes of any person as a slave, or accepts, receives or detains against his will any person as a slave, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.
371. Habitual dealing in slaves
Whoever habitually imports, exports, removes, buys, sells, traffics, or deals in slaves, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to twenty years, and shall also be liable to fine.
372. Exploiting any person for purposes of prostitution
1) Whoever—
(a) sells, lets for hire or otherwise disposes of, or procures, buys or hires or otherwise obtains possession of, any person with such intention that the person is to be employed or used for the purpose of prostitution or of having sexual intercourse with any other person, either within or outside Malaysia, or knowing or having reason to believe that the person will be so employed or used;
(b) by or under any false pretence, false representation, or fraudulent or deceitful means made or used, either within or outside Malaysia, brings or assists in bringing into, or takes out or assists in taking out of, Malaysia, any person with such intention that the person is to be employed or used for the purpose of prostitution or of having sexual intercourse with any other person, either within or outside Malaysia, or knowing or having reason to believe that the person will be so employed or used;
(c) receives or harbours any person—
(i) who has been sold, let for hire or otherwise disposed of, or who has been procured, purchased, hired or otherwise obtained possession of in the circumstances as set out in paragraph (a); or
(ii) who has been brought into or taken out of Malaysia in the circumstances as set out in paragraph (b), knowing or having reason to believe that the person is to be employed or used for the purpose of prostitution or of having sexual intercourse with any other person, either within or outside Malaysia, and with intent to aid such purpose;
(d) wrongfully restrains any person in any place with such intention that the person will be used or employed for the purpose of prostitution or of having sexual intercourse with any other person;
(e) by means of any advertisement or other notice published in any manner or displayed in any place for prostitution service or a service which a reasonable person would understand it to be a prostitution service, offers any person for the purpose of prostitution or seeks information for that purpose or accepts such advertisement or notice for publication or display;
(f) acts as an intermediary on behalf of another or exercises control or influence over the movements of another in such a manner as to show that the person is aiding or abetting or controlling the prostitution of that order, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to fifteen years and with whipping, and shall also be liable to a fine.
(2) For the purpose of paragraph (d) of subsection (1), it shall be presumed until the contrary is proved that a person wrongfully restrains a person if he—
(a) withholds from that person wearing apparel or any other property belonging to that person or wearing apparel commonly or last used by that person;
(b) threatens that person to whom wearing apparel or any other property has been let or hired out or supplied to with legal proceedings if he takes away such wearing apparel or property;
(c) threatens that person with legal proceedings for the recovery of any debt or alleged debt or uses any other threat whatsoever; or
(d) without any lawful authority, detains that person’s identity card issued under the law relating to national registration or that person’s passport.
(3) In this section and in sections 372A and 372B, “prostitution” means the act of a person offering that person’s body for sexual gratification for
hire whether in money or in kind; and “prostitute” shall be construed accordingly.
374. Unlawful compulsory labour.
Whoever unlawful compels any person to labour against the will of that person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both
Penal Code (PDF)
2. Interpretation
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—
“exploitation” means all forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude, any illegal activity or the removal of human organs;
“trafficked person” means any person who is the victim or object of an act of trafficking in persons;
“coercion” means—
(a) threat of serious harm to or physical restraint against any person;
(b) any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause a person to believe that failure to perform an act would result in
“trafficking in persons” or “traffics in persons” means the recruiting, transporting, transfering, harbouring, providing or receiving of a person for the purpose of exploitation;
12. Offence of trafficking in persons
Any person, who traffics in persons not being a child, for the purpose of exploitation, commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding fifteen years, and shall also be liable to fine.
13. Offence of trafficking in persons by means of threat, force, etc.
Any person, who traffics in persons not being a child, for the purpose of exploitation, by one or more of the following means:
(a) threat;
(b) use of force or other forms of coercion;
(c) abduction;
(d) fraud;
(e) deception;
(f) abuse of power;
(g) abuse of the position of vulnerability of a person to an act of trafficking in persons; or
(h) the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to obtain the consent of a person having control over the trafficked person,
commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term not less than three years but not exceeding twenty years, and shall also be liable to fine.
14. Offence of trafficking in children
Any person, who traffics in persons being a child, for the purpose of exploitation, commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term not less than three years but not exceeding twenty years, and shall also be liable to fine.
15. Offence of profiting from exploitation of a trafficked person
Any person who profits from the exploitation of a trafficked person commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be punished with
imprisonment for a term not exceeding fifteen years, and shall also be liable to a fine of not less than fifty thousand ringgit but not exceeding five hundred thousand ringgit.
16. Consent of trafficked person irrelevant
In a prosecution for an offence under section 12, 13 or 14, it shall not be a defence that the trafficked person consented to the act of trafficking in persons.
18. Fraudulent travel or identity documents
Any person who makes, obtains, gives, sells or possesses a fraudulent travel or identity document for the purpose of facilitating an act of trafficking in persons commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, and shall also be liable to a fine of not less than fifty thousand ringgit but not exceeding five hundred thousand ringgit.
19. Recruiting persons
Any person who knowingly recruits, or agrees to recruit, another person to participate in the commission of an act of trafficking in persons, commits an offence and shall, on conviction be punished, with imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
20. Providing facilities in support of trafficking in persons
Any person being— (a) the owner, occupier, lessee or person in charge of any premises, room or place, knowingly permits a meeting to be held in that premises, room or place; or (b) the owner, lessee or person in charge of any equipment or facility that allows for recording, conferencing or meetings via technology, knowingly permits that equipment or facility to be used, for the purpose of committing an offence under this Act, commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
21. Providing services for purposes of trafficking in persons
(1) Any person who, directly or indirectly, provides or makes available financial services or facilities— (a) intending that the services or facilities will be used, or knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe that the services or facilities will be used, in whole or in part, for the purpose of committing or facilitating the commission of an act of trafficking in persons, or for the purpose of benefiting any person who is committing or facilitating the commission of an act of trafficking in persons; or (b) knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe that, in whole or in any part, the services or facilities will be used by or will benefit any person involved in an act of trafficking in persons, commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
(2) For the purpose of subsection (1), “financial services or facilities” include the services or facilities offered by lawyers or accountants acting as nominees or agents for their clients.
22. Harbouring persons
1) Any person who— (a) harbours a person; or (b) prevents, hinders or interferes with the arrest of a person, knowing or having reason to believe that such person has committed or is planning or is likely to commit an act of trafficking in persons, commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. (2) In this section, “harbour” means supplying a person with shelter, food, drink, money or clothes, arms, ammunition or means of conveyance, or assisting a person in any way to evade apprehension.
Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 (PDF)
Trafficking in Persons Amendment 2010 (PDF)
Note: the Registrar of Marriage must be satisfied that both parties freely consent to the marriage before solemnizing the marriage. It is an offence for a person to use force or threats to compel a person to marry against his or her will or to prevent a person who has attained the age of 21 from contracting a valid marriage. Invalidity of consent is also a ground for voidable marriage. Using force or threat to compel a woman to marry against her will or to prevent her from contracting a valid marriage once she attained the age of 16 is an offence punishable with fine or imprisonment. This provision clearly gives women the freedom to choose their own spouses.
law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 (PDF)
Note: Provides minimum protection to employees with regard to their terms and conditions of service consisting of working hours, wages, holidays, retrenchment benefits, etc.
Section 99A. General Penalty
Any Person who commits any offence under, or contravenes any provision of, this Act, or any regulations, order, or other subsidiary legislation whatsoever made thereunder, in respect of which no penalty is provided, shall be liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding ten thousand ringgit.
Employment Act 1955 (pdf)
