THE separation of the roles of the attorney-general (AG) and public prosecutor will be done in phases, taking into account the complexity and challenges of its implementation, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Law and Institutional Reform Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman Said said in the first phase, the Special Task Force on Comparative Studies was conducting research on several countries to examine and formulate the most suitable model for Malaysia.

“The countries practise a parliamentary democracy system that employs an adversarial system and various administrative structures, including federal, state, union and others,” she said.

Azalina said this in reply to a question from Takiyuddin Hassan (Kota Baru-PN), who wanted to know about the government’s timeline for implementing the separation of powers during the question-and-answer session.

Azalina said in the second phase, the Special Technical Task Force would comprehensively examine the legal, staffing and financial implications before preparing an interim report for the cabinet’s consideration.

“In the third phase, a joint engagement session will be held with the Sabah and Sarawak governments as well as other stakeholders, including enforcement agencies such as the Royal Malaysia Police, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Royal Malaysian Customs Department and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency,” she said.

“This initiative clearly demonstrates that the unity government is taking serious steps to ensure that the separation of the roles of the attorney-general and public prosecutor can be implemented by taking into account all aspects comprehensively.” – Bernama, October 9, 2023.