Making the Attorney General Chairman of the Malaysian Bar? Well, here we have it another expression by a person wanting to 'silence the Bar' - or rather stop the Malaysian Bar from upholding the cause of justice without fear or favour...
Over the years, the Malaysian Bar has grown stronger - not just the Bar Council(being the Executive Committee) but the Malaysian Bar as a whole which currently members are about 16,000-17,000 practicing lawyers in Peninsular Malaysia. All lawyers in practicing in West Malaysia are members of the Malaysian Bar. And they have been strong and fearless, even coming out in thousands for protests, the last being the Walk to call for repeal of the Sedition Act in 2014, which saw about 2,000 turn out for the walk to Parliament.
Just recently, the Malaysian Bar passed a Resolution on the Attorney General, and the police called in the 3 movers of the motion and the the Bar Secretary for investigation under the Sedition Act. In my opinion, it was an interference and a violation of the Freedom of Association. The right of a member of any society, not just the Bar, to put forward a motion for discussion at the Annual General Meeting should not be interfered. Members can and should be able to put in any motion, including a motion of no confidence against the President, and the police and/or the government must not interfere with this right and this Freedom of Association.
In recent times, Malaysia has acted 'badly' trying to curtail freedom of expression, freedom of opinion and even press freedom. They have been even targeting users of social media, online media sites, blogs, etc...It is OK if you praise the government - but not OK if you highlight wrongdoings or even just merely express your dissatisfaction or a different opinion.
So, now are we looking at a new strategy - this time by making AG the President of the Malaysian Bar? To be fair, this was merely raised by a Member of Parliament - and relevant Minister, I believe said she will look into it. To date, I do not believe that this BN government has committed to doing anything to make the Attorney General the Malaysian Bar leader...by law. Now, the Bar Council members are elected by the members, and then the Bar Council members, amongst themselves, choose the President and the Office Bearers. One can only be a Bar President for just 2 consecutive terms - that is 2 years...(one term is for 1 year)..
Malaysia: Government should reject proposal to make Attorney General chair of Bar Council
Thursday, 07 April 2016 08:00pm
April 7, 2016
The
Malaysian government should reject a proposal to make the Attorney
General automatically the chair of the Bar Council of Malaysia, the ICJ
said today.
The
Malaysian Bar must remain independent and the government should not
entertain this or any other measure that would compromise this
independence, the ICJ says.
Yesterday,
during the debate session at the Dewan Rakyat (Lower House of the
Malaysian Parliament), parliamentarian Datuk Datu Nasrun Datu Mansur
suggested that the Attorney General should be automatically appointed as
the chairman of the Bar Council of Malaysia.
Datuk
Datu Nasrun Datu Mansur made the suggestion while criticizing the Bar
Council for its role in demanding greater government accountability.
“This
latest proposal is just the most recent attempt by the government to
silence all opposition and to weaken the rule of law,” said Emerlynne
Gil, ICJ’s Senior Legal Adviser for Southeast Asia.
“First
the government weakened the independence of the judiciary, and now it
is going after the lawyers who are standing up for justice and
accountability,” she added.
Responding
to the suggestion, Law Minister Nancy Shukri said that the government
will look into this, noting that amendments need to be made to the Legal
Profession Act 1976 for this measure to be adopted.
“International
standards on the independence of lawyers state very clearly that
governments should not interfere with the work of professional
associations of lawyers like the Malaysia Bar,” said Gil.
The
United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers stipulate that
lawyers have the right “to form and join self-governing professional
associations to represent their interests, promote their continuing
education and training, and protect their professional integrity,” the
ICJ reminds.
Furthermore,
the Basic Principles distinctly state that “the executive body of the
professional associations shall be elected by its members and shall
exercise its functions without external interference.”
“An
independent and self-regulated bar association is important to
safeguard the professional interests and integrity of lawyers in
Malaysia,” Gil said.
“It
acquires specific importance especially now in Malaysia where there
have been questions regarding the way justice is being administered in
the country,” she added.
The
Malaysia Bar is an essential agent in the administration of justice and
hence, the lawyers belonging to it play a key role in supporting and
calling for law and justice sector reform in the country, the ICJ
further says.
Contact:
Emerlynne Gil, Senior International Legal Adviser for Southeast Asia, t: +66 840923575 ; e: emerlynne.gil(a)icj.org
Background:
The
Malaysia Bar passed a motion last month during its 70th Annual General
Assembly calling for the resignation of Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed
Apandi Ali because he summarily ended the investigation of alleged
corruption by Prime Minister Najib Razak.
The Prime Minister appointed Attorney-General Apandi on 27 July 2015, in the midst of the corruption investigation.
Attorney
General Apandi subsequently cleared Prime Minister Najib Razak of any
criminal wrongdoing and instructed the Malaysian Anti-Corruption
Commission to close the investigations.
According
to the ICJ, the motion passed by the Malaysia Bar calling for the
resignation of the Attorney General was within its mandate as an
independent professional association of lawyers, seeking as it did to
draw attention to how administration of justice is being jeopardized
right now.
The
UN Basic Principles specifically recognize the right of lawyers to take
part in public discussion of matters concerning the law, the
administration of justice and the promotion and protection of human
rights.
The
UN Human Rights Council has unanimously affirmed that “an independent
legal profession” is among the “essential prerequisites for the
protection of human rights, the rule of law, good governance and
democracy, and for ensuring that there is no discrimination in the
administration of justice”. Such independence should be respected in all
circumstances.
Steven Thiru: Bid to make AG head of Bar a desperate bid to silence lawyers
Thursday,07 April 2016 08:16pm;
©Malay Mail (Used by permission)
KUALA
LUMPUR, April 7 — A lawmaker’s suggestion for the Attorney General to
automatically head the Malaysian Bar was a blatant move to quell its
criticisms, president Steven Thiru said today.
He
also said Silam MP Datuk Datu Nasrun Datu Mansur, who made the
suggestion in Parliament yesterday, was irresponsible for seeking to
subvert the Bar’s mandate to uphold the rule of law and justice, for
political capital.
“Further,
the proposal that the Attorney General be automatically appointed as
the President of the Malaysian Bar appears to be an undisguised attempt
to curtail the independence of the Malaysian Bar, and would be perceived
as a desperate measure to silence the Bar,” he said in a statement
today.
Steven
added that the Bar will vigorously defend against any such attempt to
put it under the control of the Executive or curtail its independence.
He
also explained that it would be illogical for the AG to be made the
president of the Malaysian Bar, as both positions serve disparate and
opposed purposes.
“The
suggestion to fuse the two positions is without basis, and therefore
perverse. It reveals a remarkable ignorance of the distinctive and
separate roles of the Attorney General and the President of the
Malaysian Bar,” he concluded.
Yesterday,
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri said Putrajaya
will consider Datu Nasrun’s proposal, but said the matter needed
in-depth study and legal amendments.
The
Barisan Nasional MP had accused the Bar Council of being political over
the adoption of a motion calling for AG Tan Sri Mohd Apandi Ali to
resign over his decisions in cases involving state investment firm
1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), former 1MDB unit SRC International,
and the transfer of RM2.6 billion into the prime minister’s personal
accounts.
The three lawyers who proposed the motion are now being investigated for sedition.
Aside
from the motion adopted during its recent annual general meeting, the
Malaysian Bar also filed for a judicial review on the AG’s decision to
clear the prime minister in the cases of SRC International and the RM2.6
billion deposited in the latter’s accounts ahead of Election 2013.-Malaysian Bar Website
*** I will post the full Media Statement of the President of the Malaysian Bar, when it becomes available
*** I will post the full Media Statement of the President of the Malaysian Bar, when it becomes available
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