Must the Prevention of Terrorism Entail the Violation of Human Rights? The Case of Malaysia’s Prevention of Terrorism Act

Authors

  • Abdul Razak Ahmad Bait al-Amanah, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • Simraatraj Kaur Dhillon Bait al-Amanah, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32890/uumjls2022.13.2.10

Keywords:

Prevention of terrorism, human rights, national security, counterterrorism, natural justice

Abstract

The enactment of the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015 (POTA) in Malaysia has led to numerous detentions and rulings that are arguably violations of human rights. Through an analysis of primary and secondary materials, viz., the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, court decisions and relevant statutes, this paper questions the necessity of such draconian preventive detention legislation as POTA and concludes that a valid concern for national security has infringed the rights of Malaysian citizens. Thus, POTA must be re-evaluated and re-examined to ensure that the Malaysian government defends the traits that differentiate them from the terrorists they are combating.

References

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Published

20-07-2022

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 2 (2022): UUM Journal of Legal Studies (UUMJLS) Vol. 13(2), July 2022

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Ahmad, A. R., & Simraatraj Kaur Dhillon. (2022). Must the Prevention of Terrorism Entail the Violation of Human Rights? The Case of Malaysia’s Prevention of Terrorism Act. UUM Journal of Legal Studies, 13(2), 243-266. https://doi.org/10.32890/uumjls2022.13.2.10

Research impact

Harvested 2026-09-06
4 citations, from OpenCitations — the highest of the sources checked

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Identifiers DOI 10.32890/uumjls2022.13.2.10 OpenAlex W4287010409 Semantic Scholar CorpusID 251085558 Scopus 85135259347

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