Legal aspects of Malacca, Johor, Kedah and Perak sultanates a comparative study

Abstract

In the previous paper on the aspect of law I have more or less outlined some of the basic features and characteristics of laws that existed during the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries Malacca Sultanate. My preliminary observation was that the Malacca laws as shown by the Hukum Kanun (Malacca Laws) and Undang-Undang Laut (Malacca Sea Laws) embodied a wide field which include among others, court procedure and regulations, royal privileges, codes of proper conduct, civil and family laws, various types of penalties, etc.' Now I am trying to trace further on the legal position of traditional Sultanates of Johor, Perak and Kedah. The approach is comparative with the intention to observe some of the distinct characteristics and qualities of their laws.