By P. Gunasegaram
While prime minister Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement for legal reform is welcome despite its lateness, much will depend on the wording of the legislation to ensure it is in line with the spirit of reform for curbing corruption and abuse of power.
(Anwar announced on Jan 5 that the government intended to pass laws on the separation of the powers of the attorney general, limit the PM’s tenure to two terms, a freedom of information act and an Ombudsman’s act for public complaints.)
To illustrate, let’s take the watered down Independent Police Conduct Commission Act (IPCC) passed in July 2022 under an Umno government, a transformation of the proposed Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Act proposed in 2018 under Harapan and conceived as far back as Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s term as PM way back in 2003.
Since its inception in July 2023 – the Madani government was already in power – news reports say 529 complaints were made, eight investigation papers were opened and four resolved. It passed corruption cases to the MACC and others to the Police as it did not have any investigative powers. So much for the IPCC.
Thumbs down on IPCC
The Bar Council had a forum on the IPCC in March 2025, less than a year ago. It found:
1. Lack of Investigative and Disciplinary Powers: Unlike the proposed IPCMC, IPCC has limited authority to prosecute or impose disciplinary measures, deferring key decisions to the Police Force Commission, which has a poor track record of addressing police misconduct;
2. Scope of Misconduct: The scope of misconduct should be expanded; and the exclusion of misconduct under sections 96 and 97 of the Police Act 1967 severely limits the powers of IPCC;
3. Limited Investigative Scope: IPCC has limited essential “Search and Seizure” powers, rendering its ability to conduct thorough investigations weaker than that of the defunct Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (“EAIC”);
4. Absence of Mandatory Public Inquiries: There is no statutory requirement for IPCC to conduct public inquiries into deaths in custody or police brutality, which limits transparency and accountability; and
5. Non-Binding Recommendations: IPCC’s findings are merely advisory, with no legal obligation for law enforcement agencies to act upon them, undermining its effectiveness.
Yes, reform not only crawls slowly forward in Malaysia but has a way of transmogrifying magically into anything but a reform along the way. When the final act takes shape, the situation is often worse, not better.
Just look at the degradation in name – particularly “misconduct” to “conduct” – when the purpose of the act is to investigate misconduct of the police.
Despite the IPCC officially commencing operations in November 2023, It has not brought to light even one major instance of police misconduct although there have been reports of abuse.
The most serious allegation was that three men were shot in cold blood, execution style by the police. There was a release of an alleged phone recording where a voice can be heard pleading to be spared before a shot is heard.
The IPCC, passed when Umno controlled the reins of government, eminently qualifies as one of the laws that need to be changed. Why is it not on the list of legal reforms?
Laws can be watered down
The evidence is that original intentions can be diluted to nothingness as the IPCC Act shows beyond any reasonable doubt. The way the government does this is to introduce the law for the first time to most people at the point of tabling. With its majority in Parliament it is easily passed.
If the government wants real and transparent scrutiny – that’s a big if – of the new law and to ensure that the spirit and purpose is adhered to as a true Madani government should, it must make the proposed legislation publicly available at least two months before it is tabled.
And make a public commitment to do so to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to weigh in with their opinions, enabling suitable adjustments where necessary before it becomes law.
That is what a responsible government thirsting for real reform instead of a show will do. If this important measure is not implemented, the government drafters will merrily continue to push legislation to give excessive power to the government they serve.
The most important of the legal reforms is the separation of powers of the attorney-general as adviser to the government and the public prosecutor. This is to strengthen judicial independence and reduce conflicts of interest as the attorney general is currently appointed by the government.
Unless the public prosecutor is independently appointed and does not report to the executive, it will be meaningless as there will be explicit and implicit control of prosecution by the government. Simply separating the powers solves nothing.
The next two most important are an Ombudsman bill to enable public complaints and a freedom of information act to improve transparency in procurement, contracts and governance.
Probably the weakest of the proposed legislation is the 2-term limit for prime ministers. At the current state of politics it is highly unlikely that anyone stands the remotest chance of being a PM for more than one term, let alone two.
It’s something for the long term though although there are loopholes like passing the baton on to designated successors.
Declassify reform report
Strangely, there is no mention of a document which has been in the government’s hands since 2018 when the Institutional Reform Committee (IRC) headed by former judge the late KC Vohrah made its report in 2018 to the Council of Eminent Persons headed by Daim Zainuddin. The CEP was formed by Harapan PM then Mahathir Mohamad.
That report, completed in less than 100 days, was promptly, for reasons unknown till today, classified as a secret under the Official Secrets Act, paradoxically one of the acts the committee was hoping to reform. Calls for declassifying the report have fallen on deaf ears, including those of the Madani government.
Here’s what one member of the committee, former Bar Council chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan, had to say: “You remember we all spent three to four months in the excited belief that the Harapan government then in 2018 was going to bring reforms.
“So, we killed ourselves day and night, and now I don’t know why I wasted my time to produce, with some other very, very eminent people, an institutional reforms report.”
Another suggestion for Anwar: Why not make the nearly 8-year old report by the IRC public now so that they are no longer held in suspense about its contents? Or do we have to wait for the Freedom of Information Act for that?
That will educate the public on institutional reform and bring forth a healthy and free debate about what is needed going forward.
If we are to believe that the government is serious about institutional legal reform to curb corruption and other abuses of government, nothing less than these measures are necessary.
Otherwise that “major” announcement on Jan 5 by the PM will be so much hogwash.
P Gunasegaram hopes against hope that these legal reforms will be meaningful.
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