The Reid Constitutional Commission: The 'Lost' Environmental Proposals for Malaysia

摘要

Within the written words of the Malaysian Federal Constitution, 'environment' is missing. No express term provides or protects the right to a clean environment, except for a limited questionable right judicially interpreted under art 5(1)'s right to life. It has often been said that the framers of the Constitution, the Reid Constitutional Commission, omitted to provide for the environment given the Constitution's silence on this matter, and that this omission is fatal. However, it is suggested -contrarily - that there may be historic evidence to demonstrate not only that the Reid Constitutional Commission made proposals for environmental protection, but also that it envisaged a strong federal governmental role in the preservation and conservation of the environment; a role which, if recognised and adopted today, could result in greater protection for the environment and a more certain legal environmental framework for Malaysia.