KUALA LUMPUR: The process to separate the powers of the Attorney General and the Public Prosecutor is in its final stages, says Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) said that a complete study and proposed model on the separation of powers would be brought to Cabinet soon.
“The initiative to separate the roles of the AG and the Public Prosecutor is now in its final phase.
“The findings, along with a proposed separation model, will be brought to the Cabinet for consideration in the near future,” said Azalina during her winding-up speech on the 13th Malaysian Plan (13MP) in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday (August 18).
Azalina also said that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had said during Question Time that the Cabinet is expected to make a policy decision on the matter by the end of August,
Azalina said the Parliamentary Services Act and the commitment to separate the powers of the AG and the Public Prosecutor represent the government’s most significant reform to date.
She said this would involve amendments to the Federal Constitution, requiring a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
Meanwhile, to ensure all Malaysians have access to justice, the government is set to introduce mobile court services in rural areas under the “Justice on Wheels” initiative.
She said the initiative had been implemented in Sabah and Sarawak but not in the peninsula.
“This is an inclusive step to ensure that justice is not just in urban areas but also in rural areas and the interior,” said Azalina.
She said newly appointed Chief Justice Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh had also expressed support for the initiative.
“We hope to have one mobile unit for each state. Mobile legal access will not just solve small cases but also assist in registering documents,” she said.
