Talks on separation of AG-Public Prosecutor powers heartening, says think tank

PETALING JAYA: Recent proceedings by the Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC) on Human Rights, Election and Institutional Reforms regarding separation of the Attorney General (AG) and Public Prosecutor's (PP) roles have been viewed as encouraging.

The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) said it met PSSC chairman William Leong and proposed that the AG should be a member of the Cabinet while the PP should be appointed and head the Office of Public Prosecutions.

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"This was what we presented in our paper on 'Separating the Attorney-General and the Public Prosecutor: Enhancing Rule of Law in Malaysia' on Oct 26," Ideas CEO Dr Tricia Yeoh said in a statement on Saturday (Nov 4).

"This approach guarantees both prosecutorial independence and transparency," she added.

Yeoh said the strongest path to reform is through amending the Federal Constitution, the Criminal Procedure Code and the Interpretation Acts 1948 and 1967.

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"We hope to be involved in all future discussions related to this issue, including those with the Special Task Force for Comparative Studies and the Special Task Force that were announced by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.

"We look forward to the speedy implementation of separating the offices of the AG and PP as it is crucial in ensuring institutional independence and reducing political interference in the country's legal process," added Yeoh.