Sosma motion may not be retabled this year due to Parliamentary Standing Orders, says lawyer

PETALING JAYA: The retabling of the Parliamentary motion on the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) to detain suspected terrorists and criminals for up to 28 days without trial could be delayed to as late as next year, says lawyer Andrew Khoo.

The co-chair of the Bar Council Constitutional Law Committee said this was due to Standing Order 36 (3) which states that a matter that has been decided cannot be reconsidered by the House within the same session.

"Unless there is a substantive motion for rescission, it cannot be reconsidered. So they can try again next year.

"But, by next year, the five-year period would have lapsed," Khoo told The Star.

The five-year-limit of the provision to detain suspects up to 28 days ends on July 31 this year.

The fifth session of the 14th Parliament has three meetings, the first began on Feb 28 recently and ended on Thursday (March 24) after sitting for 16 days.

The second meeting will run for 12 days from July 18 to Aug 4 and the third meeting will sit for 31 days from Oct 26 to Dec 15.

Meanwhile, Khoo said when the Act was enacted in 2012, the Bar Council had said that the 28-day detention period should be shortened.

"So, the sunset clause was written in, to review it every five years," Khoo said on Friday (March 25).

"The question is whether, if the government tried to introduce a motion to change it from 28 days to 21 or 14 or even seven days, would that be seen as being substantially different?" Khoo said.

The provision for the 28-day detention without trial has to be extended every five years and it was last extended in 2017.

Earlier Friday (March 25), Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said the retabling of the motion on Sosma in Parliament will be discussed with legal officers to determine the next course of action.

Hamzah also said there was a "time crunch" in retabling the Sosma motion in Parliament, given that the five-year limit of the provision to detain suspects without trial for 28 days ends on July 31 this year.

Hamzah also claimed that some government backbench MPs left Parliament when the motion was tabled on Wednesday (March 23) afternoon.

On Wednesday, the Dewan Rakyat had voted down the motion to extend the enforcement of subsection 4(5) of Sosma which allows the detention of suspects for up to 28 days without trial.

The bloc voting, which took place after a heated debate, saw 85 MPs voting for and 86 against, while 49 MPs were absent.

At least three MPs were also disqualified from voting as they had entered the hall late for the bloc voting process.