Retired police officers' association lauds withdrawal of IPCMC Bill

KUALA LUMPUR: The Retired Senior Police Officers Association of Malaysia (Respa) welcomes the decision by the government to withdraw the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Bill 2019 in the Dewan Rakyat.

Its president Tan Sri Ismail Che Rus said he commended the move, as well as the tabling of the Independent Police Conduct Commission (IPCC) Bill 2020 for its first reading.

"Respa has consistently opposed the establishment of a commission under the proposed IPCMC Bill 2019 for a number of reasons, as we believe some provisions in the said Bill are in conflict with certain articles in the Federal Constitution.

"We are also convinced that certain powers given to the commission to conduct investigation for the purpose of proving misconduct is legally untenable as the process involved the adoption of powers under the Criminal Procedure Code (Act 593)," he said in a statement on Thursday (Aug 27).

Respa made its position clear in a number of consultations with various stakeholders undertaken by the legal division in the Prime Minister’s Department of the previous administration, he added.

"We have also presented our views before a special parliamentary select committee appointed to canvass public opinion regarding the Bill, where we reiterated, amongst others, that the disciplinary powers that reside with the Police Force Commission under Article 140 of the Federal Constitution should remain there.

"We have no objection to the formation of an oversight body of whatever name given as it is allowed under the Constitution so long as its powers and function stay within the constitutional and legal ambit.

"Respa is of the view that the new Bill, IPCC, will be well supported by the public as its stated goal is the establishment of a commission whose main task is to act as an independent oversight body to improve the integrity, promote public confidence and reduce misconduct amongst members of the police force," he said.

Ismail added that to achieve such objectives, the commission could set up a complaints committee to conduct investigations of police misconduct.

"The law also requires the police to refer to the commission regarding any incident involving sexual offences or any other incidents resulting in serious injuries or deaths to any person who at that time was under police detention or custody.

"It is also compulsory for the commission to table any incidents involving sexual crimes, grievous hurt, or death of those under police detention or custody in an annual report to Parliament," he added.

Although the commission would not be clothed with powers to award punishment, this was to be seen as preserving the constitutional duty of the Police Force Commission which was the only body that could appoint a police officer, hence the corresponding power to dismiss, Ismail said.

"Respa supports the government’s quick decision in resolving this long-standing issue involving the forming of a body to oversee the police and looks forward to seeing the passing of this Bill as a law," he said.

On Wednesday (Aug 26), the Perikatan Nasional government withdrew the IPCMC Bill from the Dewan Rakyat.

The much-anticipated Bill will be replaced by the IPCC Bill 2020, which was tabled by the Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ismail Mohamed Said for its first reading.

The IPCMC was first tabled for its first reading by the then Pakatan Harapan government on July 18 last year.

However, the then Opposition bloc, consisting of Barisan Nasional, PAS and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), indicated that they would not support the IPCMC Bill.