Report on separation of powers of Attorney-General and Public Prosecutor to be presented to federal Cabinet this year

 By Simon Peter

KUCHING, March 13 2025:  A report on empirical study on the Separation of Powers of the Attorney-General and Public Prosecutor is expected to be presented for consideration of the federal Cabinet later this year. 

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said (picture) said the report will be prepared by  the Secretariat of the Committee for Empirical Study.

“This empirical study is a clear evidence of the commitment of the federal government in realising the institutional reform agenda to ensure that the administration of the country continues to be improved for the well-being of the people and the country,” she said in a statement issued in London, United Kingdom.

She is now leading a high-level Malaysian delegation to the United Kingdom to study in more detail the concept of the separation of the roles of the Attorney-General and the Public Prosecutor in the UK as a reference for best practice in an effort to identify a suitable model for Malaysia.

The delegation is in the final series of empirical studies, having been to Canada and Australia last year, both are Commonwealth countries.

“Our meeting with Lord Hermer, Attorney-General for England and Wales at his office at the Ministry of Justice, was a very significant meeting because the discussions on the current system used in the United Kingdom, which includes aspects of the roles and functions of the Attorney-General and Public Prosecutors, were explained in more detail,” Azalina said.

She said the delegation also held a meeting with the Crown Prosecution Services (CPS) which is the body responsible for matters related to the prosecution of criminal cases in the United Kingdom. 

“This meeting session, among others, discussed the functions and powers of the Public Prosecutor and the relationship with the Attorney General,” Azalina stressed.

She added the delegation also had the opportunity to hold discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate as the inspectorate body which conducts periodic inspections of the relevant prosecution agencies for the purpose of checks and balances.

She said as part of the empirical study, a roundtable discussion session was jointly organised by Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister’s Department, University College London and National University of Malaysia with legal experts and academics focusing on the structures and functions of the Attorney-Generals and Public Prosecutors as practiced in Malaysia and the United Kingdom. 

The other members of the Malaysian delegation  include Chairman of the Special Select Committee on Human Rights, Elections and Institutional Reform of the Malaysian Parliament William Leong Jee Keen, Chairman of the Special Select Committee on the Review of Laws of the the Upper House Rita Sarimah Insol, Solicitor General Datuk Umar Saifuddin Jaafar and President of the Malaysian Bar Council Mohamad Ezri  Abdul Wahab.