Separate AG, PP roles now to avoid loss of public confidence, govt told
PETALING JAYA : Lawyers want Putrajaya to act quickly to divest the attorney-general (AG) of his prosecutorial role, saying any further delay will only deepen public perception that the government lacks the political will to carry out promised reforms.
They said the desired change—one that is crucial for the Malaysian justice system— has been talked about for many years, but remains elusive.
Salim Bashir.
Lawyer Salim Bashir said the current administration, led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, must 'walk its talk' following vigorous feasibility studies conducted both locally and abroad by a government task force over the past two years.
The public expects the government to expedite the process, he said.
'Enough consultations and studies have been made. The separation must be done urgently to bolster public confidence,' said Salim, a former Malaysian Bar president.
The lawyer was commenting after law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said said last week that the government was still in the midst of studying the matter.
Azalina expressed hope that a decision can be reached before the next general election.
Last December, Anwar told the media that a draft Cabinet paper on the subject is expected to be ready by the middle of this year.
Acknowledging the complexity of the issue, Anwar said the paper may take time to complete as it involves numerous amendments to the law, including the Federal Constitution.
Pakatan Harapan had, in its election manifesto in 2018, pledged to put the change into effect, a promise it repeated at the 15th general election four years later.
Barisan Nasional followed suit, saying in 2022 that it was necessary to eliminate any conflict of interest and reduce excessive power placed in the hands of the AG.
Haniff Khatri Abdulla.
Both PH and BN are now part of the unity government.
Once separated, all prosecutorial powers will be vested in the public prosecutor, while the AG will act as the government's legal advisor.
Lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdulla chastised Azalina for the delay.
'We will not move forward if the government does not put in the political effort to attend to it.'
Hanif proposed that a royal committee, under the auspices of the Conference of Rulers, be formed to study the separation of roles.
Lawyer Rafique Rashid Ali said there will be occasions when the AG may not be in the best position to deal with a criminal matter himself.
'He may find himself in a position of conflict of interest from time to time, when the interest of his client—the government—may not fully coincide with public interest,' he said.
Rafique said experience has shown that such situations tend to arise when politicians are prosecuted for criminal offences.
Rafique Rashid Ali.
He said that, since 2018, politicians aligned to the government of the day had their charges withdrawn while their trials were ongoing.
In certain other cases, the prosecution's appeals against acquittals were struck out on flimsy grounds such as the petition of appeal being filed out of time, he added.
'Most of these corruption charges involve millions of ringgit, and the optics are that a pliant AG is appointed to execute the agenda of those in power, ' said Rafique, adding that precious judicial and prosecutorial time and resources are wasted in the process.
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