No need for Economic Sabotage Act, say lawyers

 

There is no need for a specific law to criminalise the sabotage of businesses, despite recent boycotts to entities such as McDonald’s, Starbucks and KK Mart, two lawyers tell FMT.

PETALING JAYA: Lawyers have dismissed calls for the enactment of a new law to deal with acts of economic sabotage, saying existing laws are sufficient to address such matters.

Haniff Khatri Abdulla said the Penal Code contains a number of offences which already deal with arson and acts of vandalism towards persons, properties and businesses.

Arson is an offence under Section 435 of the code, while vandalism is addressed in Section 427.

Haniff also said existing civil laws, especially in the area of tort, offer aggrieved parties avenues to seek financial and other forms of relief from saboteurs.

“To me, we have sufficient civil and criminal laws. Having laws passed one after another without knowing how to effectively implement them serves no purpose. It would be a waste of time,” he told FMT.

He said any perception that there are currently no laws that offer redress stems from the public’s lack of knowledge and information on the matter.

Haniff said that if calls for such a law persist, the government should form a select committee comprising legal experts, including from the judiciary and the Attorney-General’s Chambers, and professionals from law enforcement to study and make recommendations within a period of between six and 12 months.

“There must be a detailed understanding of which areas need to be legislated for,” he said.

Earlier this month, the Small and Medium Enterprises Association (Samenta) proposed the enactment of an Economic Sabotage Act to deal with actions by individuals and groups, including politicians, designed to cause damage to the economy.

Samenta president William Ng said the proposed law was initially suggested by the National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption in 2018 to criminalise activities such as the resale and monopolisation of government contracts, as well as price manipulation by cartels.

Ng said it could also be tailored to include criminalising actions that are designed to sabotage businesses, especially in light of recent arson attacks and organised boycotts targeting private enterprises.

Several businesses have in recent months been the subject matter of boycotts, including Starbucks and McDonald’s, in response to Israeli aggression in Gaza.

Local enterprise KK Mart has also been embroiled in controversy recently, following the discovery of socks bearing the word “Allah” at its Bandar Sunway branch.

Meanwhile, lawyer Rafique Rashid Ali warned against penalising those who promote the boycott of businesses, saying it would infringe upon the public’s right to stage peaceful protests.

“Curtailing the public’s rights to boycott a certain product or business is not democratic and impinges on the freedom of expression,” he said. - FMT