Separation Of Powers: PP’s Appointment Mechanism Under Special Task Force Review - Kulasegaran

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 (Bernama) -- The mechanism for appointing the public prosecutor (PP) after the implementation of the separation of powers between the attorney general and the PP is currently under review by the Special Technical Task Force prior to any major decisions, said Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) M. Kulasegaran.

He said the move was part of the government’s efforts to implement a model for the full separation of functions between the attorney general and the public prosecutor, in line with the Cabinet decision on Sept 10 that the two posts be held by different individuals of equal standing.

Kulasegaran said the separation model was formulated based on a comparative study of Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, which share a common law legal system similar to Malaysia’s and have implemented various forms of functional separation between the two offices.

“According to Article 145(1) of the Federal Constitution, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall appoint the Attorney General on the advice of the Prime Minister.

“The proposed mechanism for appointing public prosecutors following the separation of roles is under further review by the technical committee (task force) before any major decision is made,” he said during a question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Kulasegaran said this in response to a question from Lim Lip Eng (PH-Kepong) on the comparative models referred to by the government for separating the roles of the Attorney General and PP, and whether future appointments of the Attorney General will go through a related Parliamentary Special Select Committee.

Elaborating, he said all parties must give the technical team space to conduct their study to ensure the separation of powers is implemented comprehensively, in accordance with the rule of law and free from political interference.

“Once the separation of roles is implemented, the Attorney General and PP will each have their own jurisdiction. The appointment process for the PP will also be carefully scrutinised to ensure justice and independence are fully upheld.

“I believe the current PP, who carries out his duties independently, serves as the ideal model for the system we are about to implement,” he said in reply to a supplementary question from Datuk Mumtaz Md Nawi (PN-Tumpat) on the government’s assurance that the separation of powers will remain free from political interference.

--BERNAMA