Malaysian Bar Urges Immediate Establishment of Independent Law Reform Commission, Demands Release of 2018 IRC Report

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 — The Malaysian Bar has called on the government to immediately establish a standing, independent Law Reform Commission through an Act of Parliament, cautioning against further administrative delays to long-overdue legislative overhauls.

Malaysian Bar President Anand Raj stated in a press release today that government proposals to establish a permanent reform body are not new, having been raised as early as 2011 and formally approved by the Cabinet in 2019. He emphasized that to function effectively and maintain public trust, the proposed commission must operate outside the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister’s Department, the Attorney General’s Chambers, or any government ministry to remain entirely free from political influence.

According to the legal body, the commission should be chaired by an eminent retired judge or a nominee of the Malaysian Bar. The Bar also advocated for structural inclusion, stressing that civil society organisations, experienced parliamentary and legislative draftsmen, and key stakeholders must be granted meaningful representation on the panel.

Raj highlighted that substantial groundwork for institutional updates has already been submitted to the government, including 55 proposals delivered to the Institutional Reforms Committee (IRC) in 2018 and 60 submissions presented to the Minister of Law and Institutional Reform in February 2023. While some initiatives—such as parliamentary reform and separating the roles of the Attorney General and Public Prosecutor—have been pursued, the Bar noted that statutory Bills have not fully reflected its recommendations.

The Bar identified several security and preventative laws as top priorities for repeal or substantial reform, including the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (SOSMA), Sedition Act 1948, Prevention of Crime Act 1959, Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015, Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, Dangerous Drugs (Special Preventive Measures) Act 1985, and the National Security Council Act 2016. The organization also urged the immediate enactment of comprehensive freedom of information legislation and strengthened whistleblower protections.

Addressing unresolved matters from past reform efforts, Raj criticized the continued withholding of the IRC’s final report, which remains unpublished eight years after its submission to the government in July 2018. Reiterating that significant time has been lost repeating the necessity of these legal frameworks, the Bar urged the government to publish the report and establish the commission without further delay.

–NMT