"No public officer, whether the AG or the prime minister, can exercise his powers at his whims or refuse to disclose reasons. To do so would be despotism, and not democracy." — Lawyers for Liberty director Zaid Malek.
PUTRAJAYA (Jan 15): The attorney general/public prosecutor (PP) is under no obligation to furnish reasons behind initiating or discontinuing criminal charges, AG Datuk Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh said on Monday.
Addressing the legal fraternity at the Opening of the Legal Year 2024 in his inaugural speech as the government's top legal adviser, he said the role of the AG/PP is "well established" under Article 145 of the Federal Constitution.
"The prosecutorial discretion of initiating and discontinuing criminal charges is the exercise of lawful discretion by the PP after a careful scrutiny of all the evidence presented by the investigation bodies and also taking into consideration the requirements of the penal laws and procedure.
"While discharging this constitutional obligation, the PP is not bound to furnish any reason whatsoever to any parties," he said to the gathering at Putrajaya on Monday.
Ahmad Terrirudin, who assumed office on Sept 6, stressed that the office of the PP must be allowed to carry out its duties without "unnecessary external interference".
"All stakeholders must therefore understand this and respect the prerogatives of the PP and must act fairly towards all parties without being selective towards certain matters, which will only result in sheer wastage of time and resources.
"This is also true in matters which appear to look frivolous or trivial, as the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) still needs to respond to every matter professionally," said Ahmad Terrirudin, who had previously also served as chief registrar.
Although the AG did not refer to any specific case, the prosecution and the AGC had faced questions and criticism following their decision to discontinue and drop 47 charges against Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi after Zahid’s defence had been called.
Presiding judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah upheld the prosecution’s application for a discharge not amounting to acquittal (DNAA) for the Umno president, as opposed to the defence’s request for a full acquittal. This means that Zahid can still be charged in the future with the same charges.
Ahmad Terrirudin's predecessor, Tan Sri Idrus Harun, was the serving AG then. Idrus retired on Sept 6 last year.
In his speech, Ahmad Terrirudin also said the AGC is aware of the danger of manipulating issues relating to race, religion and royalty (3R) and indicated that the AGC will take stern action against any perpetrator, which may include the use of the Sedition Act 1948.
"I will not hesitate to bring any offender before the face of justice and take stern actions, subject to evidence of course, to maintain peace and order in this country, including invoking [the Sedition Act] and any other written laws (if necessary)," he said.
LFL says AG’s comments ‘disturbing’ and ‘disappointing’
In an immidiate reaction to the AG's speech, human rights and law reform group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) slammed his comments as "disturbing and disappointing".
"If the AG has no duty to give reasons to the public, as claimed by Ahmad Terrirudin, it means he is not accountable to the public. This is a novel and unprecedented claim. To suggest that the AG’s powers are not accountable to the public, is contrary to the rule of law and plain wrong. In our democracy, there is no such thing as a public office that is not subject to public scrutiny and accountability," LFL director Zaid Malek said in a statement.
Zaid said the apex court had also repeatedly ruled that the AG does not have "an absolute or unfettered discretion" in commencing or dicontinuing prosecution. As such, he said that reasons behind the AGC's actions in such cases must be provided.
"No public officer, whether the AG or the prime minister, can exercise his powers at his whims or refuse to disclose reasons. To do so would be despotism, and not democracy," Zaid added.
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