SHAH ALAM: The Bar Council is coming out with a protocol to avoid misunderstandings between lawyers and the police in the course of their daily duties.
Bar secretary Ragunath Kesavan said today the Selangor and Kuala Lumpur bar councils have been tasked with the responsibility to draft the protocol.
"We hope the draft is completed in a month. We will then present it to the police, and hopefully, the protocol can be applied nationwide," he added.
Ragunath, who met Selangor Chief Police Officer Datuk Yahya Udin yesterday on the alleged unlawful arrest of lawyer S. Bala, said the police have promised that basic information such as the nature of offence, where and when a remand has been made will be made known to lawyers and family members.
He said the police have also promised to look into Bala's report and conduct an "open and no cover-up" investigation.
Last Friday (April 28, 2006), about 30 lawyers held an hour-long demonstration in front of the Petaling Jaya police headquarters to protest the alleged mistreatment of Bala by the police.
Bala was reportedly arrested and detained with no reason by the police on April 18, 2006, when he was in the police station to provide legal representation to a client.
What lawyer-police clashes? written by Charles Hector,
Thursday, May 04 2006 05:29 am
We are disturbed about a lawyer being harrased, arrested and detained by the police when he was there carrying out his duties as a lawyer. The police must respect the lawyer, and speedily provide him all information relating to his client - reason for arrest and detention, whether will be released on police bail, how long will the police require client for police investigation, name of the Investigating Officer, whether the police is going to apply for remand and if yes what time and in which court, assuurance that the police will not proceed with remand hearing until lawyer is present.... etc.
Hopefully the report is wrong for we surely do not want to be informed after the event "...where and wen a remand has been made..." - we want the info about where and when will the police be bringing the the client for his remand hearing so that the client can be represented be a lawyer..
At last the Bar met with the CPO of Selangor -- we await now for the meeting with the IGP (the head of the Malaysian police), and maybe when that happens lawyers in numbers could accompany our President as a show that lawyers are indeed angry with the treatment of a fellow lawyer by the police ...keep members informed of the date when you will be meeting the IGP, AG....
I would like to congratulate the KL Bar and the Selangor Bar for their initiative in meeting the CPO of Selangor - The report sadly does not reflect the fact that the delegation that met with the CPO of Selangor included Lim Chee Wee(KL Bar Chair), George Varughese (Selangor Bar Chair), Sivananthan (KL Bar Committee member), Rajpal Singh (Selangor Bar Committee member) and Mr Suraj Singh (Selangor Bar member)- and also Ragunath Kesavan.
Feel that it was not right for the Secretary of the Bar Council to have gone for that meeting with the Selangor State Police Chief - that should have been done by the KL & Selangor Bar Committee.
The Bar Council, cahaiman and Office Bearers, should go meet the IGP (the head of Malaysian Police..) - after all the Bala incident is not the only incident and any protocol must be submitted to the IGP - so that it will be adopted and applicable nationwide not just the State of Selangor..
Also still uncertain is the question as to who will be investigating Bala's report -- we asked for a team independent of the PJ Police District - there is still no indication as to who is doing this investigation (let alone whether the investigation has started) and when can we expect to see action being taken against the said policeman...(or will the police do it secretly and just tell us at the end that action has been taken....????)
HERE again is why we need the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) - at least then we will be assured of an independent investigation ---
LET RULE OF LAW PREVAIL written by Stephen Tan Ban Cheng,
Thursday, May 04 2006 10:44 am
Good idea. The potocol or "rules of engagement" must be publicised to all concerned, each and every policeman and each and evey Malaysian.
That way, the police can be made accountable. Why hide the fact where they have put the client and what charges, if any, have been laid.
The names of the policemen who manhandled the lawyer must be publicised. This is an assault and is actionable against the policeman concerned and the government, since all uniformed personnel are agents of the government.
"Arahan dari atas" or superior orders is NOT a defence insofar as the assault, if proven, is concerned. It is about time that the police is subjected to the rule of law.i
If any policeman is brave enough to manhandle a lawyer, then let their names be published for all posterity. Let them be "proud" of that fact.
This is long overdue.
Policemen who misbehave should have their names published and then let the public see how far they go up the ladder of the police force.
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SHAH ALAM: The Bar Council is coming out with a protocol to avoid misunderstandings between lawyers and the police in the course of their daily duties.
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We are disturbed about a lawyer being harrased, arrested and detained by the police when he was there carrying out his duties as a lawyer. The police must respect the lawyer, and speedily provide him all information relating to his client - reason for arrest and detention, whether will be released on police bail, how long will the police require client for police investigation, name of the Investigating Officer, whether the police is going to apply for remand and if yes what time and in which court, assuurance that the police will not proceed with remand hearing until lawyer is present.... etc.
Hopefully the report is wrong for we surely do not want to be informed after the event "...where and wen a remand has been made..." - we want the info about where and when will the police be bringing the the client for his remand hearing so that the client can be represented be a lawyer..
At last the Bar met with the CPO of Selangor -- we await now for the meeting with the IGP (the head of the Malaysian police), and maybe when that happens lawyers in numbers could accompany our President as a show that lawyers are indeed angry with the treatment of a fellow lawyer by the police ...keep members informed of the date when you will be meeting the IGP, AG....
I would like to congratulate the KL Bar and the Selangor Bar for their initiative in meeting the CPO of Selangor - The report sadly does not reflect the fact that the delegation that met with the CPO of Selangor included Lim Chee Wee(KL Bar Chair), George Varughese (Selangor Bar Chair), Sivananthan (KL Bar Committee member), Rajpal Singh (Selangor Bar Committee member) and Mr Suraj Singh (Selangor Bar member)- and also Ragunath Kesavan.
Feel that it was not right for the Secretary of the Bar Council to have gone for that meeting with the Selangor State Police Chief - that should have been done by the KL & Selangor Bar Committee.
The Bar Council, cahaiman and Office Bearers, should go meet the IGP (the head of Malaysian Police..) - after all the Bala incident is not the only incident and any protocol must be submitted to the IGP - so that it will be adopted and applicable nationwide not just the State of Selangor..
Also still uncertain is the question as to who will be investigating Bala's report -- we asked for a team independent of the PJ Police District - there is still no indication as to who is doing this investigation (let alone whether the investigation has started) and when can we expect to see action being taken against the said policeman...(or will the police do it secretly and just tell us at the end that action has been taken....????)
HERE again is why we need the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) - at least then we will be assured of an independent investigation ---