EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS (DISCIPLINE) ACT 1976

LAWS OF MALAYSIA ONLINE VERSION OF UPDATED TEXT OF REPRINT Act 174 EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS (DISCIPLINE) ACT 1976 As at 15 March 2019 This text is ONLY AN UPDATED TEXT of the Educational Institutions (Discipline) Act 1976 by the Attorney General’s Chambers. Unless and until reprinted pursuant to the powers of the Commissioner of Law Revision under subsection 14(1) of the Revision of Laws Act 1968 [Act 1], this text is NOT AN AUTHENTIC TEXT 2 EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS (DISCIPLINE) ACT 1976 … … … 25 May 1976 Date of publication in the Gazette … … … 31 May 1976 Latest amendment made by Act A1584 which came into operation on … … … … 15 March 2019 Date of Royal Assent … … … PREVIOUS REPRINTS First Reprint … … … 2001 Second Reprint … … … 2006 Third Reprint … … … 2009 3 LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 174 EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS (DISCIPLINE) ACT 1976 ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS PART I PRELIMINARY Section 1. Short title 2. Interpretation 3. Power of Minister to decide any question as to Executive Head PART II DISCIPLINARY AUTHORITIES 4. (Deleted) 5. Disciplinary authority in respect of students of an Institution 6. Students’ disciplinary rules PART III THE STUDENTS’ REPRESENTATIVE COMMITTEE AND OTHER STUDENT BODIES 7. Students’ Representative Committee 8. Establishment of other student bodies 9. Power of Executive Head to suspend or dissolve SRC or any organization, body or group of students 4 Laws of Malaysia ACT 174 PART IV OFFENCES Section 10. Activities of students or students’ society, organization, body or group 11. Prohibition on collection of money by a student or by an organization, body or group of students 12. Liability of student or students’ organization, body or group 13. (Deleted) 14. Suspension of student charged with registrable offence and matters relating to detention, etc. 15. (Deleted) 16. (Deleted) PART V TRANSITIONAL 17. Students who are members of an existing society 18. Existing societies of students 19. Sections 17 and 18 to prevail over Societies Act 1966 or relevant Co-operative Societies Ordinance 20. Existing organizations and bodies of students in an Institution PART VI GENERAL 21. Delegation by Minister 22. Application of Act to Institutions specified in the First Schedule, and Minister’s power to amend Schedules 23. Minister’s power to apply provisions of Act to Institutions with modifications, etc. 24. Branch itemized in the First Schedule deemed to be a separate Institution 25. Date of commencement of this Act in relation to an Institution subsequently included in the First Schedule 26. This Act and subsidiary legislation made thereunder to prevail FIRST SCHEDULE SECOND SCHEDULE THIRD SCHEDULE 5 LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 174 EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS (DISCIPLINE) ACT 1976 An Act to provide for matters related to discipline in educational institutions, and for matters connected therewith. [1 June 1976] BE IT ENACTED by the Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong with the advice and consent of the Dewan Negara and Dewan Rakyat in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: PART I PRELIMINARY Short title 1. This Act may be cited as the Educational Institutions (Discipline) Act 1976. Interpretation 2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— “Executive Head” means the officer or member of the staff of the Institution who functions as the principal executive officer of the Institution; 6 Laws of Malaysia ACT 174 “Institution” means any institution, other than a University, which provides education, instruction or training of any description to any person, and which is specified or described in the First Schedule; “Minister” means the Minister responsible for education or the Minister responsible for higher education, as the case may require; “registrable offence” has the meaning assigned to it under the Registration of Criminals and Undesirable Persons Act 1969 [Act 7]; “staff” includes any person employed by or in an Institution; “student” means a person receiving education, instruction or training of any description from or in an Institution; “Students’ Affairs Officer” means a member of the staff of an Institution who is designated as such by the Minister under subsection 5(1); “Students’ Representative Committee” or “SRC” means the Students’ Representative Committee provided under section 7; “University” means a University or a University College established under the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 [Act 30]. Power of Minister to decide any question as to Executive Head 3. Where any question arises as to who is the Executive Head of any particular Institution the question shall be decided by the Minister whose decision thereon shall be final. PART II DISCIPLINARY AUTHORITIES 4. (Deleted by Act A1375). Educational Institutions (Discipline) 7 Disciplinary authority in respect of students of an Institution 5. (1) The disciplinary authority of an Institution in respect of every student of an Institution shall be such member of the staff as the Minister may designate; the member of the staff so designated shall be known as the Students’ Affairs Officer. (2) The Students’ Affairs Officer shall have the power to take such disciplinary action and impose such disciplinary punishment as provided under the Second Schedule. (3) The Students’ Affairs Officer may delegate his disciplinary functions, powers or duties to any member of the staff or any board of members of the staff, in respect of any particular student or any class or category of the students of the Institution. (3A) The Students’ Affairs Officer, or the member of the staff or the board of members of the staff delegated with the functions, powers or duties under subsection (3), shall inform the student in writing of the grounds on which it is proposed to take action against him and shall afford him a reasonable opportunity of being heard. (3B) A student of an Institution shall have the right to be represented by a staff or another student of the Institution in any disciplinary proceedings taken against him. (3C) A student of an Institution shall be allowed to make a written or an oral representation in any disciplinary proceedings taken against him. (3D) The decision of the Students’ Affairs Officer, the member of the staff or the board of members of the staff, as the case may be, in any disciplinary proceedings taken against a student of an Institution shall be communicated in writing to the student within fourteen days from the date of the decision. (4) Any student who is dissatisfied with the decision of the Students’ Affairs Officer, the member of the staff or the board of members of the staff, as the case may be, under subsection (3D) may, within fourteen days from the date of receipt of the decision, submit 8 Laws of Malaysia ACT 174 an appeal in writing to the Student Disciplinary Appeal Committee established by the Minister under subsection (5). (5) The Minister shall establish a Student Disciplinary Appeal Committee to hear and determine any appeal submitted by a student of an Institution under subsection (4). (6) The Student Disciplinary Appeal Committee shall comprise three members to be appointed by the Minister from within or outside the Institution, one of them to be the chairman of the Student Disciplinary Appeal Committee. (7) No person who had exercised the powers under subsection (2) or (3) shall be a member of the Student Disciplinary Appeal Committee. (8) A student of an Institution who has submitted an appeal under subsection (4) shall have the right to be represented by a staff or another student of the Institution in any proceedings before the Student Disciplinary Appeal Committee. (9) A student of an Institution who has submitted an appeal under subsection (4) shall be allowed to make a written representation in any proceedings before the Student Disciplinary Appeal Committee. (10) The Student Disciplinary Appeal Committee hearing an appeal under subsection (5) shall decide on the appeal within thirty days from the date of receipt of the appeal. (11) The decision of the Student Disciplinary Appeal Committee on an appeal shall be communicated in writing to the student within fourteen days from the date of its decision. Students’ disciplinary rules 6. The Educational Institutions (Discipline of Students) Rules 1976 in the Second Schedule shall apply to an Institution, provided that the Minister may, in his absolute discretion, make, by order published in Educational Institutions (Discipline) 9 the Gazette, such modifications, adaptations, additions, deletions or amendments thereto in the application thereof to any particular Institution or class or description of Institutions as he may deem necessary or expedient. PART III THE STUDENTS’ REPRESENTATIVE COMMITTEE AND OTHER STUDENT BODIES Students’ Representative Committee 7. An Institution shall have a Students’ Representative Committee and the Third Schedule shall apply to such Committee, provided that the Minister may, in his absolute discretion, make, by order published in the Gazette, modifications, adaptations, additions, deletions or amendments thereto in the application thereof to any particular Institution or class or description of Institutions as he may deem necessary or expedient. Establishment of other student bodies 8. (1) Without prejudice to section 7, it shall be lawful for not less than ten students of an Institution with the prior approval of the Students’ Affairs Officer given after obtaining the concurrence of the Minister, and subject to such terms and conditions as the Students’ Affairs Officer may specify, to establish a student body consisting of students of the Institution for the promotion of a specific object or interest within the Institution. (2) The Third Schedule, except paragraphs 1 and 7 thereof, shall apply mutatis mutandis to a student body established under this section as they apply to the SRC. Power of Executive Head to suspend or dissolve SRC or any organization, body or group of students 9. (1) If the SRC or any organization, body or group of students of an Institution established under this Act conducts itself in a 10 Laws of Malaysia ACT 174 manner which the Executive Head considers detrimental or prejudicial to the interests or well-being of the Institution, or to the interests or well-being of any of the students or staff of the Institution, or to public order, safety or security, or if the SRC or organization, body or group of students violates any provision of any written law, the Executive Head may, after giving the SRC or organization, body or group of students of the Institution an opportunity to make a written representation, suspend or dissolve the SRC or organization, body or group of students of the Institution. (2) The SRC or organization, body or group of students of the Institution aggrieved by the suspension or dissolution made under subsection (1) may, within fourteen days from the date of receipt of the notice of the suspension or dissolution, appeal in writing to the Minister. PART IV OFFENCES Activities of students or students’ society, organization, body or group 10. (1) Subject to subsection (2), a student of an Institution may become a member of any society, organization, body or group of persons, whether in or outside Malaysia, including any political party. (2) A student of the Institution shall not— (a) become a member of any unlawful society, organization, body or group of persons, whether in or outside Malaysia; or (b) become a member of any society, organization, body or group of persons, not being a political party, which the Minister, after consultation with the Executive Head, determines and specifies in writing to the Executive Educational Institutions (Discipline) 11 Head to be unsuitable to the interests and well-being of the students or the Institution. * (c) (Deleted by Act A1584). (3