ATTORNEY-GENERAL Tommy Thomas today said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, who is the supreme commander of the armed forces, will not be held responsible for the decision made by the prime minister, the cabinet and defence ministry regarding war declaration.

Thomas cited a case where the British prime minister was called up before an inquiry into the Iraq war inquiry instead of Queen Elizabeth as she is a constitutional monarch even though she is the commander of the armed forces.

“So if war is declared, although the Agong is the supreme commander of armed forces, the decision to go to war is always made by the prime minister, the cabinet and the minister of defence and, operationally, the general who runs the war or the admiral in the navy.

“If Malaysia commits a war crime, the people who are vulnerable to ICC (International Criminal Court) prosecution will be the prime minister, the cabinet, the minister of defence, the generals but never the king because he is a constitutional monarch,” he said, at the public forum “Malaysia & Rome Statute” public forum in Universiti Malaya today.

On April 5, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced that Malaysia had withdrawn from ratifying the Rome Statute due to the confusion it has caused in the people.
 
The ICC is the first agreement-based international criminal court aimed at ending immunity for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and invasion.

The forum featured G25 member Noor Farida Ariffin, constitutional law expert Emeritus Professor Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi and lawyer Lim Wei Jiet.

In response to a question on why the A-G had failed to convince the Conference of Rulers to support the government in ratifying the treaty, Thomas said that he was not in the room when four academics described the Rome Statute to the rulers.

Thomas said if he had been in the room, he would have had the chance to present his side of the argument.

“If the five of us were in the room, the way the dialogue would happen is each of us would have commented on the other, and if I heard the arguments of the other four, I would have the chance to comment on them and they have the chance to comment on mine…but that opportunity did not arise,” he said.

Blame has been laid on the four academics for allegedly misleading the Malay rulers on the Rome Statute with a biased paper on the treaty.

The four academics were invited to the forum but did not show up to take part in the discourse. – Bernama, April 27, 2019.