Law reform needed, not just revisions

The second meeting of the second session of the Dewan Rakyat, Malaysia’s lower house of parliament, got under way on May 22.

The house passed amendments to the Penal Code, the Mental Health Act and the Insolvency Act, among others.

These three, however, are more revisions of the law rather than reforms. The government still needs to deliver on its promises of institutional and legal reforms.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim needs to appreciate that reform is a serious matter.

In fact, it is too serious a matter to be left to the government alone.

In law, reform is “the process of analysing current laws and

advocating and carrying out changes in a legal system, usually with the aim of enhancing justice or efficiency”, according to the Transparency, Accountability and Participation Network’s SDG Accountability Handbook.

Changes to the law may be ad hoc and piecemeal, or comprehensive.

The latter oftentimes resulted from recommendations made by an independent law reform commission, which undertakes research and reasons itself based on such research.

Such a commission can outline the basic criteria that must be met before a proposed rule of law will operate satisfactorily, and recommend the rejection or re-examination of those proposals which do not meet them.

It can clarify the arguments put forward by the disputing sides, and verify the factual assertions that have been advanced in support of them.

It can supply an impartial account of the history of the existing legal position, which a long and heated debate may have obscured.

A former Malaysian Court of Appeal judge, Mohd Hishamudin Yunus, has identified seven benefits of an independent law reform commission: quality of work; respect and confidence; attracting the best brains; support of public officials, academics, experts and members of the public alike; expertise; focus; and continuity.

An independent law reform commission is needed now more than ever.

Law and Institutional Reform Minister Azalina Othman Said needs to introduce a Malaysian Law Reform Commission Bill in the House.

Mohamad Hafiz Bin Hassan, lecturer, Faculty of Law, Multimedia University