‘Bar not busybody or political, just upholding rule of law’

The Malaysian Bar has denied that it is being political or a 'busybody' in tabling motions related to the attorney-general (AG) in their annual general meeting today as well as seeking judicial review against the AG.

"We don't agree; the Bar is not a busybody. When there are concerns that the constitution has not been complied with or misunderstood or misinterpreted, then actually every Malaysian has an interest in it.

"None of us can be busybodies in a matter that is so important that it goes back to the document which is our founding document.

"Certainly the Bar would be concerned about it, because under the Legal Profession Act, we are obliged to uphold the rule of law.

"The Malaysian Bar is mandated to uphold the rule of law, so by no stretch of imagination can you say we're a busybody," Bar president Steven Thiru said in a press conference after the conclusion of their AGM at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur today.

He was responding to those who had criticised the Bar for being political or busybodies because of their motion seeking the Apandi's resignation, as well as the Bar's application for judicial review to challenge the AG's decision not to prefer charges against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in relation to the RM2.6 billion donation.

Elaborating on the origins of the word ‘busybody’, Thiru said it came from a "very old English case" related to the law on whether or not a person has locus standi, that is whether a person has legal standing to bring an action.

Locus standi law has changed tremendously all over the world since then, including in Malaysia, he explained.

"Our law today is actually a very progressive law, that allows a person who is aggrieved by a particular decision to bring a case to court. So, I think to say that there's no locus standi for the Bar is looking at the law in a very outdated and regressive manner," he said.

He also refuted those who said the Bar is too political by pointing out that none of the five motions brought up and passed in their AGM today was political in nature.

"If you look at the motion on the AG, the concern expressed by members of the Bar is actually a concern about the rule of law and administration of justice in this country, so it has nothing to do with any political positions," he said.

Their motions on the controversial National Security Council (NSC) and Internet censorship were also all issues of the rule of law, "as to whether or not the rule of law has been infringed", he said.

Meanwhile, the other two motions were professional practice issues, related to the legal practice, he noted.

Earlier, the Bar had voted in support of the motion calling for the resignation of Apandi as AG, concerning his decision not to pursue charges against Najib for the RM2.6 billion and RM42 million found in the prime minister's personal bank accounts.

Thiru had stressed that the Bar vote was a separate decision from its judicial review action. -Mkini