The right to health is recognised as a fundamental human right in the World Health Organisation (WHO) Constitution. In Malaysia, the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health is a fundamental human right without discrimination for every human being. Consequently, the principle of the “right to health,” regardless of the legal status of an individual, is the driving force in creating acceptable standards of health care for all citizens. Even for individual who suffers from Covid-19, he still has a fundamental right to health. The issue of the right to health is whether the patients have any rights of their health? If they do have the right to health, the next issue is whether the hospitals are legally bound to follow such right, i.e. the right to health of the patients. Therefore, this paper aims to analyse and discuss the issues regarding the rights to health of the patients. Without the legal mechanism in recognising the right to health, it pointed out that is no such right. The method employed in this paper is qualitative based. The paper finds that although Malaysia does not have any specific legal framework about the right to health, the application of international legal mechanism can be referred to a guideline. Thus, it is important to have a specific legal framework by applying international legal mechanism in order to address this issue.

People fly for several reasons. One of the goals is to obtain medical attention. This idea is known as “medical tourism.” In defending this concept, the notion of medical tourism is one of the prospects of increasing industries that have rapidly grown in Malaysia and other countries. One of the factors that led to this trend is the propensity to pursue better medical care at a lower cost. Around the same time, certain patients in modern society have begun to provide input on their medical care in cases where they are unable to give consent. Advance Medical Directive (AMD) is a particular directive containing the desires of a knowledgeable patient regarding his or her future medical plans if he or she becomes incompetent or unable to make any decisions regarding his or her body. However, the concern that arises in the sense of medical tourism is whether there are applicable laws in Malaysia that will ensure that the AMD of patients is enforced. The art of AMD is still relatively new in the country and, as a result, the legal status on the AMD is still vague and uncertain. The purpose of this article is, therefore, to define the laws that can be applied in relation to AMD in the context of medical tourism. The approach used in this article is qualitative. It found that Malaysia did not have a clear legal framework for AMD within the scope of medical tourism. This article concludes that this legal challenge can be overcome by means of the special AMD regulations on medical tourism in Malaysia.

The protection of the right to life and the duty to rescue persons in distress at sea are the fundamental obligations under two specialized international law regimes which are the international human rights law and the law of the sea. These rules when read together form a strong protection of the human rights of the asylum-seekers stranded at sea. However, often states failed to honour this obligation for various reasons ranging from national security to economic reasons. This article will analyse Malaysia’s responsibilities as regards the right to life and the duty to rescue of these asylum-seekers. It will also identify the existing international and domestic legal framework relevant to the application of these obligations upon Malaysia and whether it has acted in breach of such obligations. The article then proceeded with suggestions for further improvement that Malaysia can adopt in order to better perform its obligations. This study is a pure doctrinal legal research which is qualitative in nature. The data used in this research is collected from library-based resources. These data were then analyzed by using methods of content analysis as well as critical analysis. The article found that Malaysia has a duty to protect the right to life under international human rights law. Additionally, Malaysia is also bound under the law of the sea to perform its duty to rescue. In view of Malaysia’s failure to perform these duties in two occasions in the past consequently had resulted in a violation of international law. Therefore, it is suggested that Malaysia should initiate a revision of its national laws and policies regarding treatment of asylum-seekers stranded at sea to be in line with Malaysia’s duty under international law. Besides, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency is call upon to comply with the international standards of treatment of persons in distress at sea which includes the asylum-seekers.

One of the most common forms of evidence used by the Public Prosecutor in a courtroom to prove a case is DNA evidence. The DNA evidence process started when the police collected the physical evidence relevant to the alleged offence at the crime scene. The collected evidence will then usually be sent to the Department of Chemistry Malaysia for DNA analysis. The chemist will extract the DNA from the relevant physical evidence by using specific techniques. The outcome of the analysis will be used to complete the investigation of the case. Being an independent organization, the Chemistry Department strives to provide impartial forensic science analysis. Thus, from the analysis, sometimes DNA evidence does not necessarily implicate the accused with the alleged offence but may also disclose the involvement of a third party in the alleged offence that may cast doubt on the prosecution’s case. This can be seen in the Federal Court’s case of Public Prosecutor v Hanif Basree Abdul Rahman [2008] 4 CLJ 1. The evidence will then be presented by the prosecution before the court to assist judges in making the right decisions. This indicates the important role played by an expert in the court decision making process. In this context, questions always arise as to the probative value of DNA evidence given by experts in the courtroom. Can the court convict a person solely on DNA evidence? This article focuses on the position of DNA experts in Malaysia under section 45 of the Evidence Act 1950. It was found that although the DNA evidence is given by the experts, the probative value depends on the nature of the evidence itself.

Setiap pesakit berhak menentukan apa yang beliau mahu atau tidak mahu dilakukan ke atas tubuh badan mereka. Perbincangan tentang hak pesakit bagi meneruskan atau meninggalkan rawatan perubatan akan memberi kesan kepada hak mereka untuk kekal hidup atau tidak. Huraian tentang hak pesakit telah dinyatakan dalam Piagam Pesakit, Persatuan Perubatan Malaysia (MMA). Dalam keadaan ini, keizinan pesakit menjadi faktor penting sama ada doktor dibenarkan meneruskan rawatan perubatan terhadap pesakit atau tidak. Arahan Awal Perubatan (AMD) adalah satu dokumen khusus bagi menyatakan kehendak pesakit berkeupayaan sama ada ingin meneruskan atau meninggalkan rawatan perubatan tentang pelan perubatan masa hadapannya sekiranya beliau menjadi tidak berkeupayaan. Rujukan di England dibuat dan keputusannya mendapati bahawa terdapat suatu peruntukan perundangan khusus berhubung dengan AMD. Berbanding dengan Malaysia, AMD masih dianggap bukan perkara lazim dan kedudukannya dalam aspek perundangan masih tidak jelas. Maka, objektif artikel ini adalah membincangkan hak-hak pesakit dewasa dengan mengambil kira AMD di Malaysia dan asas undang-undang yang berkaitan dengannya. Kaedah yang digunakan di dalam artikel ini adalah kualitatif. Keputusan daripada penulisan kertas ini dapat memberi gambaran yang lebih jelas tentang hak pesakit dewasa berhubung dengan perlaksanaan AMD di Malaysia.