ATTORNEY-GENERAL Tommy Thomas will push for the separation of the public prosecutor’s office and the functions of the attorney-general. 

“The (Malaysian) Bar, of which I’ve just ceased to be a member, has taken that position for decades,” Thomas said today before reporting for work at 1:30pm at the A-G’s Chambers headquarters in Putrajaya today. 

“My personal position is consistent with the Bar’s. I’m very happy that the reforming government, which I now serve, has adopted that and we will work towards that. 

“I think there is a process and it will take some time, and I will be guided by chambers,” he said.

The Malaysian Bar has long urged that the attorney-general should only act as adviser to the government, with a separate public prosecution director making decisions on matters of prosecution. The separation would remove bias, the lawyers group argued.

“At present, the attorney-general of Malaysia has two separate and distinct roles under the Federal Constitution. He is both the principal legal adviser to the government, and he is also the public prosecutor,” Bar president George Varughese had said in a statement in the days following GE14. 

“As public prosecutor, the attorney-general is required to act independently and impartially, and to act as the guardian of the public interest, uninfluenced by any political considerations.

“He thus finds himself in an unenviable and arduous position of conflict of interest from time to time, when the interest of his client, the government of the day, may not fully coincide with public interest. 

“Past experience has shown that such situations would arise not infrequently, such as when it is recommended that a public official or politician be prosecuted for an alleged offence,” he added.

The fusing of the two roles dates back to the drafting of the Constitution by the Reid Commission. 

As the current role of the A-G is provided for under Article 145 of the Federal Constitution, a constitutional amendment, which requires two-thirds majority in parliament, may be needed, law experts  said. – June 6, 2018.