PRINTING PRESSES AND PUBLICATIONS ACT 1984

LAWS OF MALAYSIA ONLINE VERSION OF UPDATED TEXT OF REPRINT Act 301 PRINTING PRESSES AND PUBLICATIONS ACT 1984 As at 1 September 2012 2 PRINTING PRESSES AND PUBLICATIONS ACT 1984 ... ... ... … … … 27 June 1984 Date of publication in the Gazette … … … 28 June 1984 Latest amendment made by Act A1436 which came into operation on ... ... ... … … … 15 July 2012 Date of Royal Assent PREVIOUS REPRINTS First Reprint ... ... ... … 2001 Second Reprint ... ... ... ... 2006 3 LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 301 PRINTING PRESSES AND PUBLICATIONS ACT 1984 ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS PART I PRELIMINARY Section 1. Short title and commencement 2. Interpretation PART II LICENSING OF PRINTING PRESSES 3. Licence to use printing press 4. Printing press used for unlawful purpose PART III PERMIT TO PUBLISH NEWSPAPER 5. Offence to print, import, publish, etc., newspaper without permit 6. Grant of permit PART IV CONTROL OF UNDESIRABLE PUBLICATIONS 7. Undesirable publications 8. Offences 8A. Offence to publish false news 8B. Suppression of publication 4 Laws of Malaysia Section 8C. Suspension of publication 9. Undesirable publication may be refused importation 9A. Withholding delivery pending decision of Minister PART V MISCELLANEOUS 10. Deposit 11. Printed document to bear name of printer and publisher 12. Validity of licence and permit 13. Revocation, suspension and transfer of licence and permit 13A. Minister’s decision final 13B. Right to be heard 14. Presumption 15. Presumption of printer and publisher 16. Search warrant 17. Power to open package 18. Power of seizure or detaining printing press or publication 19. All things seized liable to forfeiture 20. Arrest without warrant 21. Corporations and firms 22. Liability of partners, directors, etc. 23. Service of notice, etc. 24. Bar to legal proceedings 25. Exemption 26. Rules 27. Repeal SCHEDULE I SCHEDULE II ACT 301 5 LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 301 PRINTING PRESSES AND PUBLICATIONS ACT 1984 An Act to regulate the use of printing presses and the printing, importation, production, reproduction, publishing and distribution of publications and for matters connected therewith. [1 September 1984, P.U. (B) 364/1984] 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 and commencement 1. This Act may be cited as the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 and shall come into force on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint. Interpretation 2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires — “audio recording” means any material on which is recorded a recording of a human voice or of instrumental music or other sounds and includes phonograph records, tapes and laser discs; “authorized officer” means any police officer, an officer of Customs, an officer of the Postal Services Department and any other public officer declared by the Minister to be an authorized officer for the purpose of this Act; 6 Laws of Malaysia ACT 301 “document” means any paper, card or other material or substance on which is printed, typed, written or marked, letters, figures, marks, pictorial or any other visible representation and includes a newspaper, book and pamphlet; “licence” means a licence granted under subsection 3(3); “newspaper” means any publication containing news, intelligence, reports of occurrences or any remarks, observations or comments, in relation to such news, intelligence or occurrences, or to any other matter of public interest, or any magazine, comic or other forms of periodical printed in any language for sale or free distribution at regular or irregular intervals, but does not include any publication published by or for the Federal or any State Government or the Government of Singapore; “permit” means a permit granted under paragraph 6(1)(a) or (b); “person” includes a body corporate or unincorporated; “prohibited publication” means any publication which has been prohibited under subsection 7(1) and includes any copy, reproduction, extract or any translation, precis or paraphrase thereof; “proprietor” means as well the sole proprietor of any newspaper as also the persons who, as partners or otherwise, represent and are responsible for any share or interest in the newspaper as between themselves and the persons in like manner representing or responsible for the other shares or interests therein and no other person; “publication” includes— (a) a document, newspaper, book and periodical; (b) all written or printed matter and everything whether of a nature familiar to written or printed matter or not containing any visible representation; (c) anything which by its form, shape or in any manner is capable of suggesting words or ideas; and (d) an audio recording; Printing Presses and Publications 7 “senior authorized officer” means— (a) any police officer not below the rank of Assistant Superintendent; (b) any officer of Customs not below the rank of Superintendent; (c) any officer of the Postal Services Department not below the rank of Senior Postal Officer; (d) any other public officer declared by the Minister to be a senior authorized officer for the purpose of this Act. PART II LICENSING OF PRINTING PRESSES Licence to use printing press 3. (1) No person shall keep for use or use a printing press unless he has been granted a licence under subsection (3). (2) For the purpose of this section “printing press” means the machine, equipment or article for printing, copying or reproducing any document described in Schedule I. (3) The Minister may grant to any person a licence to keep for use or use a printing press and he may refuse any application for such licence or may at any time revoke or suspend such licence for any period he considers desirable. (4) Any person who keeps for use or uses a printing press without a valid licence granted under subsection (3), or in contravention of any conditions imposed therein, shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to a fine not exceeding twenty thousand ringgit or to both and the deposit made under section 10 shall be liable to be forfeited. (5) A printing press which is kept for use or used in respect of which no licence has been granted shall be ordered to be forfeited by 8 Laws of Malaysia ACT 301 the court notwithstanding that no person is convicted of any offence and where there is no prosecution it shall be disposed of in accordance with section 19. (6) For the purpose of this section the owner, occupier and any person having the care or management or assisting in the management of any premises in which such printing press is found shall be deemed to have kept the same for use until he proves the contrary. (7) The Minister may by order published in the Gazette amend Schedule I. (8) Nothing in this section shall extend to the impression of any engraving or to the printing of any visiting or business card, billhead or letter heading, or to any letter, memorandum or document whatsoever, typed, printed or reproduced in the ordinary course of business, not being a printing or publishing business, or for any other lawful object or purpose. Printing press used for unlawful purpose 4. (1) Any person who prints or produces, or causes or permits to be printed or produced by his printing press or machine any publication or document— (a) which is obscene or otherwise against public decency; or (b) which contains an incitement to violence against persons or property, counsels disobedience to the law or to any lawful order or which is or is likely to lead to a breach of the peace or to promote feelings of ill-will, hostility, enmity, hatred, disharmony or disunity, shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to a fine not exceeding twenty thousand ringgit or to both. (2) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary any printing press or machine which is used to print any publication or document which is the subject matter of an offence under subsection (1) or any provision Printing Presses and Publications 9 of any of the written laws specified in Schedule II shall be ordered to be forfeited by the court notwithstanding that no person is convicted of any offence. PART III PERMIT TO PUBLISH NEWSPAPER Offence to print, import, publish, etc., newspaper without permit 5. (1) No person shall print, import, publish, sell, circulate or distribute, or offer to publish, sell, circulate or distribute, any newspaper printed in Malaysia or Singapore unless there has been granted by the Minister in respect of such newspaper a permit under paragraph 6(1)(a) or (b). (2) Any person who— (a) prints any newspaper in respect of which a permit has not been granted or in respect of which a permit has been revoked or suspended; or (b) imports, publishes, sells, circulates or distributes, or offers to publish, sell, circulate or distribute, or has in his possession for any such purpose, any newspaper printed in Malaysia or Singapore in respect of which no permit has been granted or in respect of which a permit has been revoked or suspended, shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to a fine not exceeding twenty thousand ringgit or to both. Grant of permit 6. (1) The Minister may grant— (a) to any person a permit to print and publish a newspaper in Malaysia; or 10 Laws of Malaysia ACT 301 (b) to any proprietor of any newspaper in Singapore a permit allowing such newspaper to be imported, sold, circulated or distributed in Malaysia. (2) The Minister may at any time revoke or suspend a permit for any period he considers desirable. (3) The Minister may impose as a condition of the grant of a permit that the proprietor of the newspaper in Singapore shall establish and maintain a place of business within Malaysia or shall appoint persons within Malaysia authorized to accept service of any notice or legal process on behalf of the proprietor and shall furnish the Minister with, and cause to be published in such manner as the Minister may direct, a list containing the names and addresses of such persons. PART IV CONTROL OF UNDESIRABLE PUBLICATIONS Undesirable publications 7. (1) If the Minister is satisfied that any publication contains any article, caricature, photograph, report, notes, writing, sound, music, statement or any other thing which is in any manner prejudicial to or likely to be prejudicial to public order, morality, security, or which is likely to alarm public opinion, or which is or is likely to be contrary to any law or is otherwise prejudicial to or is likely to be prejudicial to public interest or national interest, he may in his absolute discretion by order published in the Gazette prohibit, either absolutely or subject to such conditions as may be prescribed, the printing, importation, production, reproduction, publishing, sale, issue, circulation, distribution or possession of that publication and future publications of the publisher concerned. (2) In the case of a publication originating in any country outside Malaysia, an order under subsection (1) may, if the order so provides— (a) prohibit the importation of any or all publications whether before or after the date of the order, subject to such conditions as may be prescribed therein; Printing Presses and Publications 11 (b) in the case of a periodical publication, prohibit the importation of any past or future issue thereof; (c) in the case of a publication which has been issued or appears or purports to have been issued from any publishing house, agency or other source specified in the order, prohibit the importation of any other pu