THE cabinet has agreed in principle to review the Sedition Act 1948 to ensure that it is used solely for the protection of the royal institution, Law and Institutional Reform Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman Said said.

She said in a statement that the review will also look at other aspects of the law involving provocation against race and religion.

“The cabinet has agreed in principle for the Sedition Act 1948 to be reviewed to ensure this law is used only to protect the institution of rulers from any provocation,” she said.

“Other aspects regarding provocation involving religion and race will be scrutinised, including enacting new laws, if necessary, regarding national harmony and unity by taking into account the institution of the rulers as the head of the religion of Islam and international best practices and principles.

“The Prime Minister’s Department’s Legal Affairs Division, in reviewing details of the Sedition Act, will ensure the proposed amendments are properly intended to protect the royal institution holistically.”

Yesterday, Azalina said she would brief the cabinet this week on the outcome of her discussions with various stakeholders on the 3R (race, religion and royalty) issues.

She said the discussions with the Bar Council and civil society organisations (CSOs) were to assess the effectiveness of existing laws in dealing with the 3R issues.

“No, it is not a new law. I invited various agencies, the Bar Council and CSOs to discuss the way forward because there are those who feel that existing laws are sufficient. Others say we need to consider what countries like Singapore and Australia have done in dealing with the matter,” she said.

On July 18, it was reported that the government would hold discussions with relevant parties to assess existing laws and look into the need for a new law to deal with 3R issues.

Azalina had said they would study or make an assessment on existing laws (such as the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and the Sedition Act 1948).

She also said many countries had various races and religions and they used special laws, for example, Indonesia and Australia.

“But it will depend on the cabinet, whether it wants us to do further study or hold further discussions. If you ask me, we need more dialogues, including with academicians,” she added. – July 25, 2023.