law, politics, work bites
In Employment, Published Works on June 18, 2009 at 10:15 am
INTERESTING employment news seems to be shunted to the dark recesses of Malaysia’s dailies. For this month’s column, I found a little nugget entitled “Cabinet approves union for employees in electronic sector”, reported at the end of May. Now, workers in the electronics sector can form unions in their respective regions.
What came to my mind was why does the cabinet need to “approve” the formation of a trade union? Article 10(1)(c) of the Federal Constitution states: “All citizens have the right to form associations.”
Checking more thoroughly, it came to light that this right may be eroded if Parliament deems it “necessary or expedient in the interest of the security of the Federation or any part thereof, public order or morality.” Article 10(3) of the Federal Constitution makes it even clearer that associations related to labour and education are specifically subject to Parliament’s scrutiny.
For more, click here. Or click here for a pdf download.
human rights, Press & media
In Freedom of expression on June 16, 2009 at 11:10 pm
A bill in the US to stop “libel tourism” has been passed by the House Judiciary Committee, the first step to becoming law.
Sponsors of the bill say it has been designed as a way to protect US journalists from libel suits in foreign courts which do not have the same protections for free speech as the US constitution.
Libel tourism is a growing phenomenon, where people travel to the UK to sue for material which would be protected elsewhere.
Defamation and Malaysia? When will we take a page?
Posted via web from Potted Plot
