{"id":7028701,"date":"2026-08-05T14:59:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T14:59:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/business\/legal\/the-two-step-test-for-constitutional-challenges\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T14:59:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T14:59:24","slug":"the-two-step-test-for-constitutional-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7028701","title":{"rendered":"The Two-Step Test for Constitutional Challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>In <em>The Government of Malaysia v Heidy Quah Gaik Li <\/em>[2026] 2 MLJ 397, Nallini Pathmanathan FCJ summarised the procedure for courts to follow when the constitutionality of a legal provision is challenged.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Step 1: Consider whether the presumption of constitutionality<a href=\"#_ftn1\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a> has been adequately rebutted<a href=\"#_ftn2\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[2]<\/a><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This involves asking \u201c\u2026 whether the impugned statute or statutory provision is capable of a construction which is consistent with the constitutional provision\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn3\" name=\"_ftnref3\">[3]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>If the presumption of constitutionality is <u>not rebutted<\/u>, the constitutionality of the impugned legal provision should be upheld and the inquiry ends there.<\/p>\n<p>If the presumption of constitutionality is <u>rebutted<\/u>, the court would then proceed to Step 2.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Step 2: Consider whether the impugned legal provision can be \u2018read down\u2019<a href=\"#_ftn4\" name=\"_ftnref4\">[4]<\/a><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If the impugned legal provision <u>cannot be read down<\/u>, it can be struck down under Article 4(1) of the Federal Constitution.<a href=\"#_ftn5\" name=\"_ftnref5\">[5]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>If the impugned legal provision <u>can be read down<\/u>, it should be \u2018read down\u2019 and its constitutionality upheld.<a href=\"#_ftn6\" name=\"_ftnref6\">[6]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>One tool for \u2018reading down\u2019 is the \u2018vagueness avoidance\u2019 doctrine which \u201callows courts to legitimately craft a judicial construction of the text of the statute that retains only the core, while excising the indeterminate penumbra or uncertainty.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn7\" name=\"_ftnref7\">[7]<\/a><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a> On the presumption of constitutionality, see <a href=\"https:\/\/joshuawu.my\/6-things-about-the-presumption-of-constitutionality\/\">https:\/\/joshuawu.my\/6-things-about-the-presumption-of-constitutionality\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref2\" name=\"_ftn2\">[2]<\/a> <em>The Government of Malaysia v Heidy Quah Gaik Li<\/em> [2026] 2 MLJ 397 (FC), at para 33<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref3\" name=\"_ftn3\">[3]<\/a> <em>Mohd Najib bin Hj Abd Razak &amp; Anor v Government of Malaysia and another appeal<\/em> [2023] 6 MLJ 483 (FC), at para 32(c)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref4\" name=\"_ftn4\">[4]<\/a> <em>The Government of Malaysia v Heidy Quah Gaik Li<\/em> [2026] 2 MLJ 397 (FC), at para 33<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref5\" name=\"_ftn5\">[5]<\/a> <em>The Government of Malaysia v Heidy Quah Gaik Li<\/em> [2026] 2 MLJ 397 (FC), at paras 33 and 194; see also <em>Mohd Najib bin Hj Abd Razak &amp; Anor v Government of Malaysia and another appeal<\/em> [2023] 6 MLJ 483 (FC), at para 32(d)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref6\" name=\"_ftn6\">[6]<\/a> <em>Mohd Najib bin Hj Abd Razak &amp; Anor v Government of Malaysia and another appeal<\/em> [2023] 6 MLJ 483 (FC), at para 32(d)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref7\" name=\"_ftn7\">[7]<\/a> <em>The Government of Malaysia v Heidy Quah Gaik Li<\/em> [2026] 2 MLJ 397 (FC), at para 208<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In The Government of Malaysia v Heidy Quah Gaik Li [2026] 2 MLJ 397, Nallini Pathmanathan FCJ summarised the procedure for courts to follow when the constitutionality of a legal provision is challenged. Step 1: Consider whether the presumption of constitutionality[1] has been adequately rebutted[2] This involves asking \u201c\u2026 whether the impugned statute or statutory [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":361590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[192503,11117,20997,27491,20995,192504,13597,192505],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-7028701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal","tag-article-4","tag-challenges","tag-constitutional","tag-constitutional-law","tag-federal-constitution","tag-heidy-quah","tag-test","tag-twostep"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Two-Step Test for Constitutional Challenges - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7028701\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Two-Step Test for Constitutional Challenges - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In The Government of Malaysia v Heidy Quah Gaik Li [2026] 2 MLJ 397, Nallini Pathmanathan FCJ summarised the procedure for courts to follow when the constitutionality of a legal provision is challenged. 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