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FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND LANGUAGE

SEMESTER JANUARY / 2016
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PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

STUDENTS NAME

PIENG NGEE CHING

MATRICULATION NO:

660105135619001

IDENTITY CARD NO.

660105-13-5619

TELEPHONE NO.

013 8490474

E-MAIL

pieng4183@gmail.com

LEARNING CENTRE

OUM SIBU

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Table of Content

No

1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0

Content

Page

The Definitions of Law

The Characteristics of Law
Law and Morality
The Processes of Formation of Law

3
3-4
4-5
5-7

The Formation of Abortion (Termination of Pregnancy) Law

Summary
References

7-8
8
9

1.0 The Definitions of Law

Generally, law means rules or principles. This sounds simple but the term
law bears deeper meaning than that. Law means a general rule that state what
always happens when the same conditions exist, for example Newtons law of
motion, law of nature, law of physics, Murphys law and so on (Meaning of law,
2016). In addition,based on Cambridge dictionary, the term law can be defined as a
rule, usually made by a government that is used to order the way in which a society
behave; or in simpler way, law means thesystem of rules of a particular country,
group, or area of activity(Meaning of law, 2016). However, unlike the first

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definition of law stated above, rule of law of a particular country or group is changing
3 time.
over
Based on the definition given in the textbook, the law is defined as a set of
rules establish by a society to govern the behaviour within that society. In a society,
law serves as a guideline of moral and ethical judgment. Although there are dispute
over some law, people will always perceive a lawful act as an ethical act, for example
murdering with intention is unlawful and unethical. Law are expected to protect
human rights, to settle the dispute between individuals or organisations, to judge the
criminals and many more. However, the understanding of law is different depending
to individuals. Normal people may not see the need to know the details of law but the
general statements telling them what are legal or illegal. In contrast, lawyers are
obligated to understand the details as laypersons are dependent on them to explain the
intricate set of law.
2.0 The Characteristics of Law
In a country, the law is a consistent set of universal rules that are widely
published, generally accepted and usually enforced. This statement shows the five
characteristics of law consistent, universal, published, accepted and enforced.
One of the most important characteristics for a law is the consistency. It is
essential to state clearly about the requirement to act or not to act in the set of law.
The details of a law should not be contradicting, so that the people can differentiate
between the legal and illegal acts. Next, the universality is also a significant
characteristic of law. In this case, universal means the application of law to everyone
with the similar characteristics and under similar or same situations. Given an
example, a person will be convicted murder if he carries out actions to intentionally
injure and/or eventually cause the victim to die. From the Act about punishment for
murder, different sections, for example Section 299: culpable homicideand Section
300: murder have given same emphasis on the intension of causing death or of
causing such bodily injury(Law notes: Section 302 of Malaysian Penal Code, n.d.).
This shows consistency in defining murder. Under the same circumstances, the
offender or the person committed the act regardless of social status, race and identity
background will be convicted. This shows the universality of law.
The law has to be widely published and generally accepted by the society.
However, law is not perfect guidelines. From the formation of law by legislature and
councils to the explanation and interpretation of law by the attorneys or paralegal
personnel and court, the whole process is affected by many factors, especially
economic and political issues. Often, the formation and interpretation of law are
associated with a large amount of money or profit of certain industries. To obtain the
maximum profit, some legal personnel may distort the original context of law. In
2015, the Dewan Rakyat or House of people passed the Animal Welfare Bill 2015 in
order to promote animal welfare and to reduce irresponsible ownership of
animals(Rajaratnam, 2015). The animal rights are usually disregarded, hence, animals
will always be the victims of various industries both as the experimental subjects for
research and the performers at circus and so on. Moreover, industrial research and
entertainment are two of the most profitable fields. Even though animal research is

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still allowed under this Act, it is strictly controlled by rules and regulation.The passing
of 4
this Bill has marked a milestone for animal welfare in Malaysia.
Lastly, the law should be enforced. Enforcement of law is mainly carried out
by police with the assistance of different organizations which provides strong
evidences for conviction. Nonetheless, law enforcement is a difficult and dangerous
task. Again, the economic and political factors play important roles in efficient law
enforcement. The difficulty of enforcing law can be seen from the enforcement of
Environmental Act. In modern day, promoting green environment is one of the top
priority of many countries. This also means the need of strict enforcement of
Environmental Act. However, due to the economic concern, the enforcement of this
particular Act becomes arbitrary. Untreated wasted are discharged into the lakes and
rivers, poisonous gas are released into the air, the trees are cut down uncontrollably
and more are polluting our environment. Without strict enforcement, the Act will
render insignificant.
3.0 Law and Morality
Law is a set of rules and principles established by the formal institution such
as the parliament or government. On the other hand, morals are the values and
believes uphold by the society. The formal are enforced by authorities such as police;
the latter are not formally enforced but are often reinforced by social
pressures(Anonymous, 2008).The society are compulsory to obey the law but it is
optional for the individual whether to agree the standards of morals of a society.
Illegal conducts usually come with punishments from authority; immoral acts may
receive condemnation from society although it may not go against law(Anonymous,
2008). Both law and morals are closely related to each other but they can be very
different at times.
Firstly, majority of legal requirements are overlapping with moral standards,
meaning the illegal conducts are also considered as immoral by the society. If a
person kills another person intentionally, he or she violates the law and moral
standards against murder. This act is morally and legally wrong. Similarly, the
immoral conducts such as theft, adultery, prostitution, drug trafficking and others are
against the law. One of the law debated internationally is the law of euthanasia. All
religions including Islamic, Christianity and Buddhism are not agreed with
committing suicide. From religion perspective, the individual should not against the
will of God but allows God to decide the end of our lives. Hence, euthanasia which
can be defined as a form of suicide, is considered as immoral by majority part of the
society. In 2001, Diane Pretty, a woman who contracted severe motor neuron disease,
had sought the permission of the court for euthanasia. Although no treatment was
needed and available, she was paralysed and facing great challenges in basic needs
such as talking, eating and sleeping. Her request was refused by the court as
euthanasia is both morally and legally wrong in this case(Anonymous, 2008).
Secondly, the legal requirements usually lag behind the apparent moral
standards of society. Moral values change gradually over a period of long time. It may
be a decades or two or even longer. Law and morals are inter-dependent, therefore, the
changes in moral values will also lead to the changes in the law. The changes of law

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due to societys pressures and moral standards can be seen in two examples and
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slavery
was one of the most significant one. Slavery had been recorded since the
existence of humans and it was still existing less than a century ago. Under the
principle of property, slaves were part of owners property and they had no freedom to
withdraw from any arrangements by their owners(Brace, 2004). Now, there are law
that protect human rights and unfree labour is totally illegal. As a human being
regardless of race, nationality, skin colour or any other status, he or she has the right
to be protected by law. Another example is the law against drug trafficking. Drugs
were used to be widely used during the war times. The powerful colonizer were using
drugs to control and force the people under their colonization to be submissive. In
modern days, people are well acknowledged about the dangers of drugs, not only to
the individuals but also the whole society and nation. Strict law against drugs
trafficking and usage have been enforced in different countries. In Malaysia, a person
who is found guilty in drug trafficking, shall be punished on conviction with death
under Section 39B Dangerous Drugs Act 1952. In short, law may not represent moral
standards but law are clearly influenced by the moral standard of society.
4.0 The Processes of Formation of Law
As mentioned earlier, law are usually lag behind social moral standards.
Although the evolution of law is slower, many law had been re-evaluated and
changed. Moreover, more new law have been enacted since the past few decades. It is
agreeable that majority of law are representing the collective moral standards of our
society. The formation of legal framework of a society is a tedious and complicated
process and the formation of each law in legal framework is commonly driven by four
processes involving individual, group, social and political.
The foundation of law is people, meaning the law of a country may greatly
influenced by her peoples cultural and historical context. Therefore, the rules of law
differ from country to country. Individuals expose to different cultural, historical and
religious background hold different perspectives in norms, beliefs and values. Norms
are the action that an individual expect everyone else to act in certain situation.
Beliefs can be defined as the expectation of an individual to everyone else in
supporting an individuals norm. When the norms and beliefs become the priorities of
an individual, they are the values that a person holds.Same sex marriage or gay
marriage has gradually become a norm in Western countries. In cultural and historical
context, same sex attraction or homosexuality was misdiagnosed as a type of mental
illnesses and was not accepted by the society. However, with the widespread of
homosexuality, most people have accepted it as a norm and also believe that
homosexual relationship should be given same recognition as heterosexual
relationship. The value of homosexuality has gained support by many people over the
time. Nonetheless, values are often controversial. The same norms or beliefs or values
might not be easily accepted by the other individuals or society.

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Figure 1: Interaction of inter-related factors.

The role of group in the processes of the formation of law is affected by six
inter-related factors including cultural traditions, religious teachings, economic
conditions, technological development, social organization and political
processes.Individuals with the same norms, beliefs and values come together to form
groups and organization. As in the homosexuality movement in the U.S., individuals
with the same value started organizations to promote gay or lesbian rights as early as
1950s (The American gay rights movement, 2015). Gradually, the trend broke
through the cultural and religious barriers held by the society against homosexuality.
With the advanced technological development in the 21st century, the concept of
homosexuality are easily spread through social media such as Facebook, Twitter and
any other internet platforms. This has greatly strengthen the movement of the related
organization in promoting the legalisation of same sex marriage in the U.S.
Eventually, in 2015, the U.S Supreme Court ruled that the same sex couples have the
fundamental right to marry (The American gay rights movement, 2015). The
process of legalising same sex marriage in the U.S. clearly shows the interaction
between the inter-related factors (Figure 1).
In term of political process, the norms, beliefs and values uphold by
individuals, groups or organizations are sometimes institutionalised into law. The
formation of new law and amendment of the current law are largely dependent on the
governing party of that time. Different governing parties or presidential leadership
would have totally different plans in how they want to lead and run the countries.
Certain elected representatives may emphasize more on education, healthcare or
social welfare but the others may focus on development of technology and economy.
In Malaysia, the formation or enactment of new law is carried out by the Parliament.
A Bill except for Money Bills can be proposed by either Dewan Rakyat (House of
People) or Dewan Negara (Senate). A Bill has to go through several stages of
Reading in both Houses (Lawyerment, n.d.). Among all, the second stage of reading
is the most critical as the content of the Bill will be discussed and debated by the
members of the Houses (Lawyerment, n.d.). Seemingly simple but it is actually a
tedious process, for example, the Animal Welfare Bill was passed after debating in the
Parliament for four years (Rajaratnam, 2015). The Yang di-PertuanAgong must assent
to the Bill passed by both Houses(Lawyerment, n.d.). The Bill must be gazetted or
published under the Article 66(5) of the Federal Constitution before it come into force
(Lawyerment, n.d.).
5.0 The Formation of Abortion (Termination of Pregnancy) Law
According to Malaysian Penal Code Section 312, abortion or termination of
pregnancy is illegal except for the medical causes in which the registered medical

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practitioner formed in good faith, that the continuance of the pregnancy would
7
involve
risk to the life of the pregnant woman, or injury to the mental or physical
health of the pregnant woman, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated
(Syafwah, n.d.). In general, abortion can only be performed after obtaining consent
from the mother (Syafwah, n.d.). However, based on section 92, a doctor is allowed to
carry out termination of pregnancy under three condition: i) Any medical condition
that can be worsened by pregnancy; ii) A pregnancy with foetus that is unlikely to
survive like anencephaly; iii) A rape case in which the pregnancy causing the mental
distress to the patient (Syafwah, n.d.).
Historically, abortion or termination of pregnancy was not criminal as foetus
was neither considered as part of the mother during the early stage of pregnancy
(quickening stage) nor as a human being (BBC, 2014). Abortion was used to be
accepted a norm in society as way to control family size or even to hide the shame
from pregnancy out of wedlock. However, the situation has been different nowadays.
Though abortion is still legal in some countries, for example the United States,
individuals are starting to see foetus as a living human being but not just a piece of
meat (Fong, 2016). Abortion is taken seriously and individuals believe and value the
concept that every foetus has the right to be born and live.
The status of women has changed and improved over the time. A century or
even few decades ago, the most significant responsibility of a women, particularly
in Asian culture, was giving birth to children. As Asian culture used to strongly
emphasise on manhood (masculinity), the baby girls or female foetus would be
aborted. This was not uncommon in China due to one-child policy(Fong, 2016). In
these cases, women were the victims of abortion, going through both physical and
mental sufferings. Fortunately, with the economic shift from labour based to
knowledge based and service industries, women today are getting the same
opportunity as man in education. Most of the women are equipped with knowledge to
protect their rights. Furthermore, with the technological development, there are better
contraceptive or birth control method for family planning. The interaction of the interrelated factors has moved the social process of formation of abortion law.
In term of political process, abortion law in Malaysia was originally adapted
from Indian Penal code 1871 which made abortion a criminal offence without any
exception (Abortion law Malaysia, n.d.). Later on, two amendments were made to
the law. First, in 1971, an amendment legalised the abortion under the condition that
the pregnancy posed a threat to the womens life (Syafwah, n.d.). Second, in 1989,
under the pressure from the medical organization, another amendment made it legal to
terminate the pregnancy which is detrimental to the mental and physical health of the
women (Syafwah, n.d.). The flaw of this law is the doctor is usually the only person in
making decision whether an abortion should be carried out (Thwaites, 2011). Often,
women are not provided with unbiased information about the options or treatments
that are available to them (Thwaites, 2011). This situation is worrying as many
medical workers are not fully comprehend the abortion law in Malaysia. Based on a
survey done by the Reproductive Rights Advocacy Alliance of Malaysia (RRAAM)
among 120doctors and nurses, surprisingly only 57 percent of them knew that
abortion is only legal under certain circumstances (Thwaites, 2011). Nevertheless,

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majority legal experts thought that further amendment to current abortion law is not
8
necessary
(Syafwah, n.d.). However, they expressed the importance of educating
future medical workers about our abortion law. In addition, the women must learn and
know about their right in making decisions about their own bodies and their and their
babies lives (Syafwah, n.d.).
6.0 Summary
Generally, law can be defined as a set of rules establish by a society to govern
the behaviour within that society. There are five characteristic of law consistent,
universal, published, accepted and enforced. The legal requirements have to be
consistent and universal, meaning the content of law should not be contradicting
among itself and the law should be applied to everyone without special exception. The
legal personnel should be able to understand and interpret the published laws to laid
persons. The accepted laws are usuallyenforced by the police with the assistance from
different organisations. Most of the time laws are the moral guidelines of the society.
However, this does not mean law is equivalent to morality. Some legal requirements
are overlapping with moral standards such as murder, adultery, theft and others. In
addition, laws are always lag behind the moral values hold by the society. But the
change in the moral standards of the society will gradually lead to the changes in law.
Lastly, the formation of legal framework of a society was discussed. The
processes of formation of law takes a long time and are complex. The four major
processes involved are individual, group, social and political. Abortion or termination
of pregnancy law was selected to be evaluated based on individual, group and
political processes. Nowadays, the value of life has been taken more seriously. From
the moral perspective of current society, the definition of foetus is not limited to
unborn human baby that more than eight weeks after conception but foetus is an
unborn living human being. Abortion is no longer a norm. Moreover, the women now
have started to protect their right especially about the decision of their bodies and also
their babies. Economic shift, technology advancement and higher education
opportunity have changed and improved the status of women over the century. In
Malaysia, abortion is only legal under certain circumstances, particularly when the
situation is threatening the womens life. Sadly, many medical workers are not well
acknowledged and understand about our law on termination of pregnancy and they are
usually the sole decision maker in these situations. Therefore, improvement has to be
done especially in educating not only the medical workers but the society about their
rights and responsibility in making decision of terminating a pregnancy.

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7.0 References
9

Abortion law Malaysia. (n.d.). Retrieved March 7, 2016,

https://www.womenonwaves.org/en/page/4880/abortion-law-malaysia

from

Anonymous. (2008, May 29). Law and morality [Msg 2]. Message posted to
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=587689
BBC. (2014). Abortion: Historical attitudes to abortions. Retrieved March 7, 2016,
from http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/abortion/legal/history_1.shtml#h2
Brace, L. (2004). The politics of property: Labour, freedom and belonging. Edinburgh
University Press, 162.
Fong, M. (2016). Sterilization, abortion, fines: How China brutally enforced its 1child policy. New York Post. Retrieved from http://nypost.com/2016/01/03/howchinas-pregnancy-police-brutally-enforced-the-one-child-policy/
Law notes: Section 302 of Malaysian Penal Code. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20,
2016, from http://www.lawnotes.in/Section_302_of_Malaysian_Penal_Code
Lawyerment. (n.d.). Do you know how the laws of Malaysia are made? Retrieved
February 20, 2016, from http://www.lawyerment.com/library/kb/Malaysian_
Legal_System_and_Constitution/Legal_System_and_Theory/1000.htm
Meaning of law in the English Dictionary. (2016). Retrieved February 20, 2016,
from http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/law
Rajaratnam, R. (2015). 9 Winning points you should know about malaysias new
Animal Welfare Bill. Retrieved from http://says.com/my/news/9-things-youneed-to-know-about-the-animal-welfare-bill
Syafwah, A. (n.d.). Legal issues of abortion in Malaysia. Retrieved from
https://www.academia.edu/7691081/Legal_Issues_of_Abortion_in_Malaysia
The American gay rights movement: A timeline. (2015). Retrieved March 7, 2016,
from http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0761909.html
Thwaites, S. (2011). Abortion in Malaysia. Retrieved March 7, 2016, from
http://www.wao.org.my/news_details.php?nid=86&ntitle=Abortion+in+ Malaysia