Putrajaya mulls complaints committee for enforcement agencies

Putrajaya mulls complaints committee for enforcement agencies

The prime minister says the committee will be set up if the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission is replaced by the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission.

The proposed complaints committee will monitor 20 enforcement agencies.
PUTRAJAYA:
The government has agreed in principle to set up a complaints committee to address wrongdoings by 20 enforcement agencies, apart from the police, Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.

The prime minister said that the complaints committee would monitor these agencies together with the police.

Mahathir said this would be implemented if the current Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC), which oversees all enforcement agencies, was replaced by the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

“The government takes note of the issue relating to the monitoring of 20 enforcement agencies in Malaysia if the EAIC is upgraded to the IPCMC,” he said after chairing a special committee on anti-corruption here today.

Unlike the IPCMC which only deals with complaints about the police, the EAIC is empowered to deal with complaints about almost all other enforcement agencies, such as the Immigration Department, housing and local government ministry, Labour Department and the Road Transport Department.

In the past, critics said that the IPCMC bill gave it less investigative power than the EAIC, especially in the areas of search and seizure and the ability to hold public hearings.

The IPCMC bill was tabled for first reading on July 18 and will be tabled for the second and third reading in March.

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