Malaysian official advocates using more international ideas in the area of Human Rights

by Jeff Gimm

According to the New Straight Times,the Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah said over the weekend that "Malaysia's judiciary should look beyond the national borders and adopt more international human rights thinking and standards in arriving at legal decisions" Dr. Narzin Shah stressed that this was not an attack on the way Malaysia is currently conducting itself. "It is about seeking solutions to local problems by consulting universally accepted standards. It is about drawing on the experience of others who have faced similar problems." Towards the end of his speech, he stated that the courts are the ultimate authority in the country, so therefore any movement in the area of human rights should be up to them.
The way this speech was framed was most interesting. Dr. Nazrin Shah framed this idea in a way that stressed Malaysia's rising power. It puts them in a "enviable and unenviable place." He also stressed that while Malaysia should look carefully at the advice of other countries, as many of them have dealt with some of the problems that Malaysia is facing now, that this advice should be looked at as a form of international Amicus briefs.