THE Government should relook into the Attorney-General’s (AG) absolute discretion on whether to charge of drop prosecution on certain cases, saying no public official should enjoy such vast powers.
“The Bar always take a position that for every legal power there must be legal limits. Therefore, we are of the view that the AG, as the guardian of public interest, should enjoy a fettered discretion, where his decisions can be questioned in the court of law,” Bar Council president Salim Bashir told FocusM.
Under Article 145 (3) of the Federal Constitution, the AG has the absolute discretion to institute, conduct or discontinue any proceedings for an offence, except proceedings before a Syariah court, a native court or a court-martial.
In the controversial memoir written by former AG Tan Sri Tommy Thomas, entitled “My Story: Justice in the Wilderness”, the latter claimed that former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had urged him to avoid any open court proceedings in attempts to extradite controversial preacher, Dr Zakir Naik.
Thomas also alleged that the Home Ministry pressured him when his office made a decision not to appeal a High Court ruling, which held judges could hear bail applications even though an accused is charged with a terrorism-related offence.
The case was in relation to the 12 detained under the Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act 2012 for alleged link to the defunct, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LLTE).
He added the Home Ministry was also angered by Thomas’ decision to discontinue proceedings against the 12 men.
Touching on the matter, Salim urged the Government to separate AG’s role from the Public Prosecutor’s office.
“This will instill public confidence in justice administration, adding the current role puts the AG under a lot of pressure due to the dual role scope,” he opined.
Salim added: “The Government only needs to amend Section 376 of the Criminal Procedure Code to separate their roles.”
As the current form, the AG serves as both the chief legal adviser to the Government and top public prosecutor of the land.
On November last year, de facto law minister Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan told the Dewan Rakyat that the AG Chambers was working on a Bill to separate the roles of the AG and the Public Prosecutor. – Feb 11, 2021.
