KUALA LUMPUR: The appointment of the Public Prosecutor (PP) will no longer rest with a single authority under the proposed separation of the Attorney General and PP, says Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
Azalina said the new Bill on the separation of powers of the AG and PP, which is scheduled to be tabled for a second reading in due course, will involve the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Parliament, and the Judicial and Legal Service Commission in the process.
She also said the constitutional amendment would keep the Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers out of the appointment process.
“Under the structure of our Constitution, there is separation of powers between the legislature, judiciary and executive.
“While the executive appoints, the judiciary interprets. Usually, the legislature questions executive decisions, so legally, the legislature cannot appoint.
“As such, what we are doing now is introducing a compromise, where the names will be submitted by the commission to Parliament.
“The names will then be scrutinised by PSSC (Parliament Special Select Committee), allowing Parliament to have a say on the nominees.
“The Commission will then consider those recommendations before advising the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the appointment,” she said in an interview with The Star on Monday (July 6).
The Bill, which is a constitutional amendment, requires a two-thirds majority in the Dewan Rakyat to pass.
It was deferred to a 12-member bipartisan committee following its second reading in March this year.
Under the proposed mechanism, the commission will submit the names of candidates for the post of public prosecutor.
Parliament will then be informed of the nominees and allowed to provide feedback, while the committee will be able to examine the candidates and offer non-binding views or assessments before the process proceeds.
The committee will subsequently forward its considerations to the commission, which will then submit its advice to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, who will make the final decision on the appointment.
Neither the Prime Minister nor the Cabinet will be involved in the process.
Azalina also said the reform marks a major shift in Malaysia’s institutional framework, aimed at strengthening transparency, accountability and public confidence in prosecutions.
“This allows Parliament to have a say. It does not appoint, but it can evaluate and scrutinise the nominees through full disclosure. That is the essence of democracy,” she said.
She added that Parliament’s oversight role is currently largely limited to mechanisms such as the Public Accounts Committee, but the proposed changes would broaden its scrutiny function beyond financial governance.
“This is the only mechanism where Parliament will have this kind of role in appointments. It has never been done before in this country,” she said.
