THE change in federal government has injected fresh momentum to strengthen the rule of law, Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah told a law conference today.

He said laws that were deemed restrictive are being reviewed under the new Pakatan Harapan administration.

“Efforts are under way to remove undue constraints on the media.

“Steps are being taken to remedy and revitalise the core institutions of democracy and good governance, including the Election Commission, Parliament, judiciary, regulatory and enforcement agencies, and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission,” he said in his keynote address at the International Malaysia Law Conference in Kuala Lumpur.

He urged Malaysia to catch up on signing international human rights treaties that it has yet to.

He said the country must first remedy deficient laws so that it can be party to United Nations instruments on human rights.

Malaysia has signed only five out of 13 UN instruments.

“I have no doubt that as we remedy the deficiencies in our laws, rectify weaknesses in their implementation and reform our institutions, it will become easier for Malaysia to accede to the international human rights instruments that it is not yet party to.

“For example, it has so far signed just five, relating mainly to women, children and disabled persons. Malaysia has yet to accede even to the 1984 UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, and Optional Protocol.”

Other treaties that Malaysia has yet to sign are international covenants on Civil and Political Rights; Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families; Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; and, the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees 1951.

Sultan Nazrin said all countries should voluntarily accede to the 2003 UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), which Malaysia signed in 2003 and ratified in 2008.

He said UNCAC is aimed at preventing corruption, and is an essential element in international legal structures. – August 14, 2018.