SEPARATING the role of the public prosecutor and that of the attorney-general will allow for better governance and transparency, Bar Council president Karen Cheah said. 

Cheah was commenting on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) investigation into Court of Appeal judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali. 

“We know the MACC commissioners are appointed by the executive and investigation papers will be handed to the AG (attorney-general), which is also an executive appointment,” Cheah told The Malaysian Insight. 

“So we are talking about two arms of executive appointments actually doing this hovering investigation over the judiciary.

“We want the separation of powers to be a lot more accountable and independent.”

Last month, the MACC opened an investigation over allegations of unexplained money in Nazlan’s account. 

He has since lodged a report to deny the allegations. 

Nazlan was the judge who convicted former prime minister Najib Razak for misappropriating RM42 million in SRC International Sdn Bhd funds.

Cheah noted that the AG’s role as an adviser and prosecutor can be in conflict with each other. 

“By and large, (the AG) does two things – advises the government and the other role is to charge people for possible wrongdoing. 

“These two roles can come to a crossroads, because there will come a time when the AG will have to proffer up a charge to a certain person, and if that certain person holds power or is sitting in government, there might be a direct conflict involved and possible bias, thereby making the decision of whether to charge difficult.

“If we were to separate the two roles, and have different people sitting in those two positions, it would make the governance of our country better and a lot more transparent,” Cheah said. 

Most recently, the AG drew flak for withdrawing charges against oil and gas service provider Serba Dinamik.

In December, the Securities Commission pressed charges against Serba Dinamik directors and officers for submitting false information to Bursa Malaysia, an offence under section 369(a)(B) of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007, which carries a jail term of up to 10 years and fine of up to RM3 million upon conviction. 

It also secured a warrant for the arrest of company chief executive officer and group managing director Mohd Abdul Karim Abdullah. 

However, earlier this month, each accused saw their criminal charges substituted for a RM3 million compound. 

This comes after the public prosecutor accepted Serba Dinamik and the accused individuals’ representation to the Attorney-General’s Chambers. 

AG Idrus Harun explained that the charges were dropped because “public interest would be better served” by compounding the offences allegedly committed.

He said the decision was made in light of the evidence in support of the charges and to avoid a lengthy trial.

However, he did not elaborate on the acquittal.

When asked about what she thought about the AG’s explanation on why the charges were dropped, Cheah declined to comment as it was a conflict of interest. – May 19, 2022.