Law & Behold #47: Freedom of Association

Article 10 of the Constitution of Malaysia guarantees Malaysian citizens the right to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of association. On this episode of Law & Behold, we tackle Freedom of Association in particular, with Firdaus Husni, the Chief Human Rights Strategist at the Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights (MCCHR) and Kee Hui Yee, a lawyer with Kanesalingam & Co. Freedom of association is a fundamental liberty guaranteed to every citizen under Article 10(1)(c) of the Federal Constitution, and the same rights are enjoyed under Article 20(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Why do discussions on anti-hopping laws inevitably involve arguments about freedom of association, and how is the Societies Act 1966 inconsistent with the principles of human rights, particularly the right to freedom of association? We discuss this and more with Firdaus and Hui Yee.

Law & Behold is a monthly series which aims to arm Malaysians with constitutional literacy, and is done in collaboration with The Malaysian Bar, the University of Malaya's Faculty of Law, and the Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights (MCCHR).