Improvements to anti-stalking bills to ensure all legal aspects covered


Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Ramkarpal Singh says drafts of two bills related to the crime of stalking have been proposed to ensure emphasis is given to holistic coverage of the offence. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, February 8, 2023.

IMPROVEMENTS to the drafts of two bills related to the crime of stalking have been proposed to ensure emphasis is given to holistic coverage of the offence involving all aspects of legislation, said Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Ramkarpal Singh.

He said the improvements were the result of engagement sessions with stakeholders such as the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister’s Department, the Women’s Aid Organisation and the Malaysian Bar to review the provisions of the two bills.

The two bills are the Penal Code (Amendment) (No. 2) 2022 and Criminal Procedure Code (Amendment) (No.2) 2022.

The two bills were tabled for the first reading at the Dewan Rakyat on August 4, 2022, the second and third readings on October 3, 2022 and have been passed, but following the dissolution of Parliament on October 10 last year, the bills could not be tabled in Dewan Negara during the same parliament session.

Ramkarpal said the bills need to be tabled again at the coming Dewan Rakyat sitting.

He said a memorandum by Cabinet on the bills will be tabled by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said soon.

Subject to Cabinet approval, the two bills will be tabled again in the Dewan Rakyat at the coming Parliament session. 

On January 24, 2019, the government proposed that the act of stalking should be classified as a criminal act because it can make its victims, especially women, feel threatened and unsafe.

The proposal to make stalking a crime was mooted in 2019 with the establishment of the Anti-Stalking Committee. – Bernama, February 8, 2023.


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