In a report titled “Reforming the Office of Attorney-General and the Judicial & Legal Service in Malaysia”, the electoral watchdog said the lack of constitutional safeguards in the attorney-general and the public prosecutor offices led to selective prosecutions and unequal enforcement of the law.
The report, which was commissioned by Bersih 2.0 (Bersih) and written by Andrew Yong, made several recommendations to the government on how to improve the system.
In its first recommendation on the separation of the offices of the attorney-general and public prosecutor, Bersih called for the latter to be appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, based on the recommendations of an appropriate service commission.
“The public prosecutor should be appointed for a single term of eight years and be given the same security of tenure as a Federal Court judge.”
According to Bersih, Parliament should also have the power to direct the public prosecutor to consult with the attorney-general on particular cases.
“The public prosecutor should have the power to authorise specialist agencies, such as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), to initiate and conduct prosecutions for offences within their remit.
“The public prosecutor should also have the power, with the permission of the court or of the agency concerned, to take over any prosecution,” Bersih said.
For the post of attorney-general, it stressed the role of Parliament in ensuring that the best candidate is put forward by the prime minister.
“Parliament should have the right to require the prime minister to submit the name of his candidate for approval by a parliamentary committee first, before he advises the King.
“The attorney-general should also attend Cabinet meetings and have the right, like a Cabinet minister, to participate ex officio in the proceedings of both Houses of Parliament,” Bersih 2.0 said.
The second recommendation in Bersih’s report was for the separation of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission with each having its own service commission.
The report stated that the Judicial Service Commission should revert to being chaired by the Chief Justice and that the Legal Service Commission should remove the attorney-general from being an ex officio member.
According to Bersih, the attorney-general and solicitor-general should not have authority over members of the legal service and that law reform should continue to be the responsibility of individual ministries, working together with the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC).
It called for a Law Reform Commission comprising legal academics and retired judges to be created under the oversight of the law ministry to make proposals for law reforms which would then be presented to Parliament.
“Bersih urges all political parties in Parliament to work together to implement these recommendations without delay, to convince the public that they have the political will and are committed to the institutional reforms promised to the public.”
It was reported last month that the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) had established a working committee to study the separation of the roles of the attorney-general and the public prosecutor.