Report on separating powers of AG, public prosecutor ready soon

PARLIAMENT | A report on the study of the separation of powers between the attorney-general and public prosecutor will be tabled at the cabinet meeting in the middle of this year, de facto Law Minister Liew Vui Keong said today.

Liew said a working committee has been formed by the Attorney-General’s Chambers to prepare a report on the study and to submit its recommendations for the cabinet’s consideration.

“The need to amend the Federal Constitution, the Criminal Procedure Code, the Interpretation Act 1948 and 1967, as well as the relevant laws will be covered in the study,” he said during the oral question session at the Dewan Rakyat today.

Liew was replying to Azalina Othman Said (BN-Pengerang), who wanted to know when the government would institute the separation of powers to ensure the prosecutor is free and neutral and, thus, prevent any negative perception of government interference.

The minister said this separation was one of the promises in the Pakatan Harapan manifesto, and also a strategy set out in the Mid-Term Review of the Eleventh Malaysia Plan.

- Bernama