KUALA LUMPUR: The Special Select Committee on Human Rights, Elections and Institutional Reform will hold proceedings to review amendments to the Federal Constitution regarding the separation of powers of the Attorney-General Chambers (AGC) and the public prosecutor's office.
The committee chairman William Leong Jee Keen said recent cases which had seen several leaders discharged of corruption charges gave a negative perception that there was indeed an interference in the AGC by certain parties.
The committee will start its proceedings by calling upon Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, Attorney-General Datuk Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh, Former Attorney-General Tan Sri Idrus Harun.
It will also call upon Director-General of the Prime Minister's Department's (JPM) Legal Affairs Division (BHEUU), Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud and the legal team representing Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi.
Leong said the proposed proceedings involved three high profile cases including the termination of trial proceedings for all 47 charges with a discharge without an acquittal (DNAA) towards the deputy prime minister and the cancellation of the notice of appeal by the Court of Appeal against the 1MDB audit report tampering case.
It will also include the cancellation of charges by the High Court against former prime minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasin involving four predicate charges under section 23 of the MACC Act 2009.
"Without denying the power of the AGC under Article 145 of the Federal Constitution and the integrity of the Attorney-General and his officers, the committee is of the view that cases like this give a negative perception that there is interference towards the AGC by certain parties.
"Justice not only needs to be upheld, but it needs to also be implemented. It should also be seen to have been implemented so that Article 8(1) of the Federal Constitution which states that all people are equal before the law is not questioned by any party," he said in a statement adding that Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul had agreed to the proceedings.
He said the matter of the separation of powers had also been highlighted by several non-governmental organisations such as the Coalition of Free and Fair Elections (Bersih) and the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) due to issues involving several high-profile case decisions that required further clarification.
"This proceeding is subject to Terms of Reference Number III under this committee which outlines that the committee has the right to investigate and report any matter related to human rights, elections and institutional reform under the responsibility of the Prime Minister's Department, AGC, Division Legal Affairs, the Election Commission and any ministries and agencies under it that the committee deems appropriate.
"We hope that these proceedings will provide an opportunity for all relevant parties to testify in more detail to help the committee make recommendations to the government in its efforts towards institutional reform," he said.