KUALA LUMPUR: Violent crimes, property crimes and narcotics-related offences have risen since the suspension of arrests under the Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (Poca) following the Federal Court's ruling in 2022.
Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah said since the suspension took effect on April 28, 2022, the number of violent crime cases rose from 17,198 last year to 20,391 this year.
"For property crimes, 48,222 cases were recorded last year, and this year 51,941 cases. As for narcotics-related crimes, there were 139,342 cases recorded last year, and it has increased to 204,461 cases this year.
"That is why we hope that through this consultation session, we can reach the best decision," he said in response to a supplementary question from Chow Yu Hui (PN-Raub).
Chow had inquired about the timeline for amending Poca following the Federal Court's ruling that Sections 4 and 15B of the Act were inconsistent with the Federal Constitution.
Shamsul Anuar said the Home Ministry will hold another consultation with relevant ministers and stakeholders soon on the proposed amendments before tabling them in the Dewan Rakyat next year.
He said the amendments would be tabled if the consultation session yielded positive results.
He added that following the Federal Court's ruling in April 2022, the ministry held several consultation sessions with stakeholders and presented the proposed Poca amendments during a cabinet meeting on Dec 13 last year.
"Following the cabinet's approval of the proposed amendments to Poca, a special consultation session was held in February this year to discuss the proposal in more detail.
"This session involved the minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform), the digital minister, government officials, relevant members of parliament and stakeholders, including non-governmental representatives.
"Taking into account the feedback from the special consultation session, the ministry held a follow-up workshop in March to review the feedback and address concerns raised by stakeholders.
"The results of the workshop were presented to the minister (Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail) in April, who then instructed that another consultation be held with the relevant ministers."