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Attorney-General says some changes expected next year

PUTRAJAYA: The Attorney-General’s Chambers has put all laws deemed restrictive on Malaysians’ fundamental rights under its microscope.

Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail said he and his team were in the midst of reviewing not only laws that were unsuitable for current times but also those that curtailed basic human rights.

Saying that his review team was also looking at reviewing the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) 1971, Gani said it would not be impossible to expect the “changes” to materialise next year.

“We are looking at these law reviews but you cannot expect this to be done by next month. But we are getting there,” he told the New Straits Times yesterday.

“These amendments are the (A-G’s) chambers’ proactive initiatives.

It is normal for us to carry out such reviews in the course of our duty to advise the government (on the need for law reviews).” It is understood that among the laws being looked at are the Police Act, the Multimedia and Communications Act, the Restrictive Residence Ordinance and Public Security Act.

Gani said while his office had begun the review of laws that curbed fundamental rights, he did not want to comment on Monday’s Court of Appeal decision, which ruled that Section 15(5)(a) of the UUCA, which restricts students from expressing support or opposing any political party, as unconstitutional.

In the landmark 2-1 majority decision, the court held that the provision was unreasonable and violated the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech.

It allowed the appeal by four former Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia students — Muhammad Hilman Idham, Woon King Chai, Muhammad Ismail Aminuddin and Azlin Shafina Mohamad Adzha — after the High Court dismissed a suit by them to get a declaration that the section violated Article 10 of the Federal Constitution.

Short of giving an indication of the kind of changes to come, Gani said the spirit of the review could be reflected in the recent announcement of the abolition of the Internal Security Act 1960 (to be replaced with two new laws to safeguard peace and order) and repealing of the Banishment Act 1959.

In making the announcement in September, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had said that the government was reviewing other laws to be in line with current needs.

Najib had said that a comprehensive study would be carried out on the Restricted Residence Act 1993 and the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, where annual renewals would be done away with and replaced with issuance of a licence until it was revoked .

Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) commissioner Muhammad Sha’ani Abdullah said with the government liberalising contentious laws t h at curtailed human rights, Malaysia would be positioning itself on the right roadmap.

“This, in the end, will also improve transparency and stop abuse of the law,” he said, adding that he hoped that the government would not appeal the de - cision on the UUCA.