Essay: Similarities & Differences of the Law – Malaysia and Switzerland

Introduction
Laws are a vital part to the ideal functioning of a society. They are established to guard people from what is wrong, support what is right, resolve differences, and inspire individuals to do the correct thing. (The Importance of Law, 2015)
Background of Countries
Malaysia
Malaysia is a diverse and multi-religious federation comprising 13 states and two federal territories. The Malays, Chinese, and Indians make up the majority of the Malaysian population which is slightly over 30 million (Fact Monster, 2015).
The Federation of Malaya gained independence on 31st August 1957. On 16th September, 1964 the Federation was extended by the inclusion of Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak. The name “Malaysia” was adopted then just before Singapore left the Federation on 9th August 1965.  Ever since, the country has diligently modelled its government based on the Westminster parliamentary system, with a head of government being elected into power every 5 years as the Prime Minister of the country
Malaysia is a constitutional Monarchy and parliamentary democracy of state and federal level. Its government is shaped under the Yang di- Pertuan Agong; the head of state of the elected monarch, followed by the executive, legislative and judicial branch. It is stated by the nation’s Constitution that the head of state can implement certain authorities such as appointing a Prime Minister and the rejection/amendments of laws.
Switzerland
Switzerland is situated in Central Europe and their traditional religion is Christianity where majority are Catholic. This religion was later reformed in Switzerland by  Huldrych Zwingli and John Calvin. After the reformation, most of the big cities in northern and western Switzerland adopted new faith which was reformed but the other cities still remained Catholic (History of Switzerland, 2004-2010). From the 19th century onwards, the right to practice any religion was given to the individuals. Therefore, migration and immigration from other countries to Switzerland instigated growth in the number of different faith to grow amongst the region.
Movement of any religion is known as non-traditional religion. Therefore in Switzerland the number of non-traditional believers seemed to be insignificant, those were; reformed Protestants, Jews and other religions. During the 20th century, Swiss government allowed immigration from other nations which resulted prosperity in varying religious groups in Switzerland where the distinguished population could practice without any criticism from that century onwards.
Nowadays, in Swiss society, religions do not play any major role (All About Switzerland, 2005-2015). Unlike other countries, Switzerland was carved according to the feudal system in the middle age (History of Switzerland, 2004-2010). Later, they followed direct democracy in the year 1291 (Direct Democracy, 2015) and then became republic from 1848 onwards. Switzerland became part of European Union in 20th May 1992 and part of United Nations in 10th September 2002.
Background of Laws
Malaysia
According to HSBC reports, Malaysia is one of Asia’s most favorable markets and is on its way to become the world’s 21th largest economy by 2050 (Platt, 2012). Despite its road to success, Malaysia is seen as a developing nation. As is the case for many developing nations, much surveillance is shed upon the governance of the country. One example is the nation’s official attitude towards freedom of expression.
In comparison to Malaysia, Switzerland has a different view about the freedom of expression. There is a  punishment for discrimination against someone’s freedom of expression, because everyone should be free to express themselves according to the law.
According to the Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or UDHR of which Malaysia is a signatory, it is guaranteed that “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference as well as to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”.
However, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) has also elaborated on Article 19 of the UDHR by specifying that the freedom of expression may be susceptible to certain restrictions, but these shall only be necessary for these reasons:
(a) The respect of the rights or reputations of others;
(b The protection of national security or of public order (order public), or of public health or morals
Contrary to foreign approach, the freedom of expression in Malaysia is not absolute and limitations have been provided under Federal Constitution, provisions and decided cases. Each citizen has the right towards freedom of speech but it comes with clauses where it states that the comments of a person shouldn’t make any threat to national security, or the morality of the public. The Parliament of Malaysia has passed certain laws (e.g. Sections 298, 298A, and 500 of the Penal Code, Defamation Act 1957) restricting the freedom of speech in Malaysia [as allowed in Article 10(2) and 10(4) of the federal constitution.
Hate speech about religion is often the source of conflict which may incite prejudice between multiracial groups. The Government of Malaysia restricts media in certain cultures from discussing delicate topics that might “incite hatred” or “endanger national security. A person can be charged against hate Speech in Malaysia, through the sedition ACT, article 10. For example; hate speech against the PM Najib in the era of modern day communication through social media. Article 10 (4) encloses that the parliament may pass law prohibiting the questioning of any matter, right, status, position, privilege sovereignty or prerogative established or protected by provision of part III.
The Alvin tan case:
On July 2013, Sex bloggers Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee were charged in Malaysia after they posted a photo of themselves online eating pork stew “bah kuh teh,” while welcoming the fasting month of Ramadan for Muslims. They were found guilty under section 4(1) (c) of the 1948 Sedition Act place for posting seditious material through the offensive greeting; which carries a maximum fine of RM5,000.
Knowing the fact that pork is considered forbidden to Muslims, and they put a halal, meaning permitted logo on the post the image, it was taken as highly offensive. They said they meant the picture to be humorous, however it had been perceived as highly impolite and controversial given the content of the photo and the profession of the defendants; who own a YouTube channel called ‘sexcussions with Alvivi’ as well as an erotic blog.
“You could say sex blogger, a bigot, troublemaker, agent provocateur. If you want to go by my definition, I’d just say freedom of speech activist,” Tan replied when he was interviewed and was asked to define himself. “The whole intention behind the video was to show that Malaysian society has a long way to go in terms of appreciating the importance and how free speech should and can work,” Tan stated regarding his video.
Tan believes that being blamed of Islamophobia over his activities, is unfair against those who criticize Islam when the religion is present used in a base of governance and policies that directly affect them. He also added that controversial speech such as his, requires defense, compared to those which are “mellow” and “chilled down”, speaking to BBC.
It was reported that Tan flew to the US, hence, only Vivian Lee was imprisoned.
Switzerland
According to Index of Economic Freedom, Switzerland is ranked 4th in the world because of its peaceful, modern market economy with highly skilled labors and low unemployment. It is also ranked as number one in Europe. Switzerland is a developed country with a strong GDP and has always been successful for the maintenance of its economy (Forbes, 2015). The country successfully maintained its strong economy because of its practice in Freedom of Speech, Expression and Belief. Hence, it has been ranked world’s 7th for its freedom of speech by World Press Forum Index in 2016.
According to Article 8 of the Federal Constitution of Swiss Federation, “Equality before the law” is strongly practiced. Citizens are the highest political authority and are allowed to bring their opinions at federal, cantonal and communal levels without any discrimination, where they can vote on a great variety of issues and elect their representatives to the Federal Assembly (The Federal Council). “Equality before the law” consist of four sections:
“(1) Every person is equal before the law.”
“(2) No person may be discriminated against, in particular on grounds of origin, race, gender, age, language, social position, way of life, religious, ideological, or political convictions, or because of a physical, mental or psychological disability.”
Article 16 of the Federal Constitution of Swiss Federation is also highly maintained which consist of three sections:
“(1) Freedom of expression and of information is guaranteed.”
“(2) Every person has the right freely to form, express, and impart their opinions.”
“(3) Every person has the right freely to receive information to gather it from generally accessible sources and to disseminate it.”
Article 261 of the Federal Constitution of Switzerland, Racial discrimination: “Any person who publicly incites hatred or discrimination against a person or a group of persons on the grounds of their race, ethnic origin or religion. is liable to a custodial sentence not exceeding three years or to a monetary penalty.”
In Switzerland, there was a case where three Hindu fundamentalists men violated the law by announcing to burn the Holy Bible and Holy Quran in public. They claimed that the preaching on these books were wrong and irrelevant. This was considered as Blasphemy as the sentiments were hurt of the people belonging to the faith of Christianity and Islam. Later on, before the sabotage took place, the Swiss police arrested them (Sutter, 2010).
Switzerland has no sedition act but has Swiss criminal code which is also known as penal code for hate speech. According to the Swiss criminal code, anyone who gives a hate speech publicly through words, writings, images, gestures regarding a religion, race etc. shall be punished with three years’ imprisonment or a fine. Penal code in Switzerland was established on 21st December 1937. This law is effective and still  maintained by the Federal Constitution of Switzerland.
In the city of Chur in eastern Switzerland, there was a debate on marriage and family organized by the German Catholic Forum. During the debate, “The Pink Cross” a group of Swiss homosexuals were offended by the speech made by a Swiss Catholic Bishop and filed a complain against him for being an extremist. The bishop spoke about same sex marriage or homosexuality is a sin in Christianity and also quoted the Bible verses claiming gay people should be killed. This is where “The Pink Cross” felt that the Bishop had directly attacked them in the name of religion which they considered as a hate speech. The statute used this as a criminal complaint and claimed that if the Bishop was found guilty, he would be prison for 3 years for the hate speech given against “The Pink Cross” (Fournier, 2015). However, the Bishop has issued an apology letter to the group claiming his words were misunderstood as he had to explain the lectures which were based on Old Testament and he had no intention of hurting anyone’s sentiment. “The Pink Cross” didn’t accept the apology, they stated that the Bishop has purposely mentioned to apply the killing of gay people in real life (Capon, 2015).
Similarities & Differences of the Law
Malaysia and Switzerland are not so much different from each other, however, in Malaysia, the freedom of expressions has greater limitations, while in Switzerland, the discrimination against someone’s freedom of expression is more consequential. The interpretation of ‘Hate Speech’ in both countries are different; in Malaysia, hate speech refers to discussing delicate topics that might “incite hatred” or “endanger national security’, and it mostly favors Muslims and the Malay race. Other races and religions are not allowed to express themselves negatively against Islam. In Switzerland, hate speech refers to public discrimination or invoking rancor against  people of any religion.
SWISS CRIMINAL CODE (PENAL CODE) /SEDITION ACT MALAYSIA
The Sedition Act 1948  in Malaysia is a law that forbids discourse that are regarded as seditious.
In Malaysia the new version of  the Sedition Act certifies to a condemned person a minimum of three years to seven years in prison. Critics claim that the Sedition Act has is extremely vague , because what is seen as seditious is open to interpretations  which may lead to an appeal to exploit the law. Authorities may use them in positions which aren’t related to the original purpose.
The Swiss Criminal Code also called the Penal Code in Switzerland, takes strong action regarding hate speech. The purpose of having this penal code is to maintain the unity and peace between people from different faith, race etcetera. Switzerland allows freedom of expression, speech and belief but only to a certain extent. Any individual found to exceed their limits; would receive the punishment of life imprisonment for three years or a fine.