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Sunday, June 9, 2013

Paul Low: Putrajaya prefers revamping EAIC to setting up IPCMC

Paul Low said this was because improving the EAIC would be better than setting up the IPCMC from scratch. - File pic
KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 — Putrajaya has “more or less” decided not to establish the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) but will conduct an extensive revamp of the existing Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) instead, Datuk Paul Low said today.
The minister for integrity and corruption explained in a statement here that this was because improving the EAIC would be better than setting up the IPCMC from scratch.
“The latter would involve too much time to get up and running,” Low said. “As it is, the EAIC took a couple of years to really take off due to teething problems and the difficulty of recruiting capable and experienced staff with the required expertise.”
He added that the IPCMC and the EAIC were merely names and the key objective of either set-up was to ensure that they are independent, have sufficient resources, clout and a scope of influence that would allow it to be effective.
The IPCMC, which was mooted by the 2005 royal commission (RCI) chaired by former Chief Justice Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah but shot down by the police, was to be modelled on the United Kingdom’s Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), as well as other police oversight bodies in New South Wales and Queensland in Australia, and Hong Kong.
The Malaysian Bar, civil society groups and several politicians from both sides of the divide have been calling for the IPCMC’s implementation since then but to no avail.
The recent spate of custodial deaths - nine over the past five months, so far - revived calls for its establishment and in response, Low raised the proposal to Cabinet during its meeting last Wednesday.
A day later, the minister met with several rights groups at his office for a briefing where he assured them that all present Cabinet members shared the same concerns regarding the seriousness of the issue.
During the meeting, Low explained the suggestion for a permanent Coroner’s Court which would, among other functions, be empowered to probe cases of custodial deaths.
According to Low’s press statement today, Pemandu director D. Ravindran had suggested during the meeting that the government move to study the original IPCMC Bill proposed by the Dzaiddin Commission in 2005 in order to see how some elements could be incorporated into improvements to the EAIC.
Low assured the groups that that he was already initiating consultations with various parties in putting together a comprehensive proposal that he would be able to present to the Cabinet in the “near future”.
He added that he would be meeting with some members of the Dzaiddin Commission next week and would welcome any constructive input from all the NGOs present.
Other parties like the Bar Council and even foreign professionals would also be welcomed to contribute their skills and ideas, Low said.
Meanwhile, Low appealed to all parties to remain patient during the interim period of consultation and dialogue.

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