KUALA LUMPUR: The Bar Council and several human rights groups today urged the government to retain the clause in the soon-to-be tabled Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) bill that enabled it to enforce the law.
Among the groups were Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption (GIACC) and Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC).
IPCMC chairman Datuk Seri M. Ramachelvam said it was imperative that the bill on the establishment of IPCMC, which would be tabled in the Parliament, provided enforcement authorities as it as an independent monitoring body.
“EAIC chairman had said IPCMC would have the authority to investigate. We however feel that this will not succeed. We believe that IPCMC has the authority to enforce (the law),” he told a Press conference on IPCMC & The Way Moving Forward at the Bar Council office today.
The original bill for IPMC, which was drafted in 2005, was a result of the engagement with civil society groups and representatives from the Bar Council in Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) which later called for a review on the police’s auhority.
The RCI had also studied mechanism of independent monitoring bodies in Hong Kong, Canada and Wales, among others.
It has also suggested that IPCMC given the authority to enforce the law. It was never realised as the police force had its reservations and objected the commission’s establishment.
When asked if EAIC would put forward the original or updated IPCMC bill, Ramachelvam said the council, along with other stakeholder were still unsure of the matter.
“Truth be told, they did not inform us on the bill. What we were told was that EAIC had the bill submitted to GIACC.
“We were also told that there were additional powers provided.
“We are not sure whether the bill was exactly as the original (draft) which was prepared by the RCI. The bill presented to IPCMC was based on the one it had drafted. We accepted the amendments made on the draft bill,” he said.
He said the Bar Council and stakeholders would discuss on the bill before it was tabled in the Parliament in March.
“I expected GIACC to submit the updated draft bill to us in the next two weeks. There must be an extensive (on the bill) if there is a substantive amendments made.
“If the draft is based on the old bill, then a large part (of it) would have undergone amendments. The old bill was drafted 13 years and many people have knowledge of it,” he said.
IPCMC is an indenpendent that would replace EAIC to receive complaints on the police force and carry out investigation on misconduct by its personnel.