Malaysia Continue To Study The Attorney General and Public Prosecutor Power Separation in Australia
KUALA LUMPUR: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Legal Affairs and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said led a Malaysian delegation to Australia to continue an empirical study on the separation of the roles of the Attorney General and Public Prosecutor.
Azalina, in a statement today, said the working visit from Sunday to yesterday was accompanied by her deputy, M. Kulasegaran, Member of Parliament for Selayang and Chairman of the Special Parliamentary Select Committee for Human Rights, Elections, and Institutional Reform, William Leong, and Member of Parliament for Pendang, who represents the opposition bloc, Datuk Awang Hashim.
Several senior officials from the Legal Affairs Division, the Prime Minister’s Department (BHEUU, JPM), the Attorney General’s Department (AGC) and the President of the Malaysian Bar Council were also present.
Azalina said the empirical research agenda started with a round table discussion with experts jointly organized by BHEUU, JPM, Monash University Australia and the International Islamic University.
“It aims to facilitate dialogue related to the structure and role of the Attorney General and Public Prosecutor as practiced in Malaysia and Australia.
“The session was conducted by Prof Marilyn Pittard, Interim Dean, Faculty of Law at Monash University and was also attended by more than 50 leading experts from both countries as panelists and special speakers,” he said.
Azalina said among those involved were Malaysian Constitutional expert Associate Prof Datuk Dr Shamrahayu Ab Aziz and former Chief Public Prosecutor and Director of Public Prosecutions Victoria, Paul Coghlan.
Also present were representatives of civil society organizations and interested non-governmental organizations such as the Human Rights Commission, SAMA Project, CSO Platform for Reform and All Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia on Integrity, Governance and Anti-Corruption.
According to him, while in Canberra, the national delegation held discussions with Australia’s Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Mark de Crespigny and officials from the country’s Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
“The highlight of this visit was a meeting with Australian Attorney General Mark Dreyfus for a bilateral discussion session regarding the current system used in Australia and understanding the prosecution process and the structure of the Public Prosecution Office in Australia.
After that, he said he also had the opportunity to meet Australian Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and Australian Deputy Foreign Minister Tim Watts at the Australian Parliament Building and hold bilateral discussions focusing on various matters beneficial to both countries.
“In addition, the Malaysian delegation also had the opportunity to hold several Institutional Reform dialogue sessions with Malaysian students and professionals in Melbourne and Canberra,” he said.
