Warta Kerajaan: why a law only comes into force once it is gazetted

Bahasa Malaysia: Warta Kerajaan · English: Government Gazette · 中文: 政府宪报

An Act can be passed by Parliament and assented to by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong — and still bind no one. Article 66(5) of the Federal Constitution provides that a Bill becomes law once it is assented to, but no law shall come into force until it has been published.

The place of that publication is the Government Gazette.

Why “gazetted” matters

Gazettal is the point in time that turns a document from a policy decision into a legal obligation. It answers three questions at once:

• When the provision starts to bind.
• What the exact binding text is — the published version, not a press release.
• How it is proven in court.

Section 19 of the Interpretation Acts 1948 and 1967 (Akta 388) sets the default rule: the commencement date is the date provided in or under the Act or subsidiary legislation; if no date is provided, it is the date immediately after the date of publication.

That is why lawyers read two dates, not one — the Gazette date and the commencement date. The two often differ, because Parliament has the power to defer a law’s commencement or give it retrospective effect.

Parts of the Gazette

Section 18 of Akta 388 divides the Gazette into several parts according to the type of content:

Part	Content	Typical citation
Acts Supplement	Acts of Parliament and Ordinances	Akta 777 (Akta Syarikat 2016)
Legislative Supplement (A)	Royal proclamations, orders, rules, regulations, by-laws	P.U. (A)
Legislative Supplement (B)	Subsidiary legislation other than that required to be published in Legislative Supplement (A)	P.U. (B)
Bills Supplement	Bills	—
General Part	Other matters required to be published, or which the Government thinks fit	—

Section 18 also provides that publication in the official Gazette of Malaysia is sufficient notice of any matter required to be published in the Gazette by any federal law. In other words: once it is gazetted, you are deemed to already know.

The definition of “Gazette” in Parliament’s official glossary covers the official Federal Gazette published in electronic form or other form by order of the Government, including the official Gazette of any State. The text of published federal legislation can be accessed online through the Attorney General’s Chambers’ Federal Legislation portal at lom.agc.gov.my.

Common mistakes

• Equating “passed” with “in force”. Parliamentary passage, royal assent and gazettal are three separate events.
• Assuming the Gazette date = the commencement date. Many Acts leave the setting of the commencement date to the Minister, through a notification in the Gazette published later.
• Citing a regulation without its P.U. number. The P.U. (A) or P.U. (B) number is the official reference that lets anyone verify the text.
• Relying on an unofficial printout in court. Section 61 of Akta 388 gives prima facie evidentiary status to a copy of the Gazette purporting to be published by authority and printed by the Government Printer.

Related terms

• Akta
• Federal Constitution
• Parliament of Malaysia

What’s next

When you read a new regulation, look for two things before acting: the P.U. number that identifies it, and the commencement provision within it. If that provision says commencement will be fixed “through a notification in the Gazette”, the regulation is not necessarily applicable to you today — check whether that notification has already been published at lom.agc.gov.my.