Attorney General of Malaysia | |
---|---|
Peguam Negara Malaysia | |
Attorney General's Chambers | |
Style | The Honourable (Malay: Yang Berbahagia) |
Reports to | Prime Minister |
Seat | Putrajaya |
Appointer | Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Malaysia |
Term length | No fixed term |
Constituting instrument | Article 145 of the Federal Constitution |
Formation | 1946 |
First holder | Kenneth O'Connor (as Attorney General of the Malayan Union) |
Deputy | Solicitor General of Malaysia Solicitor General II of Malaysia Solicitor General III of Malaysia |
Website | agc |
The Attorney General of Malaysia (Malay : Peguam Negara also referred to as the AG) is the principal legal adviser of Malaysia. The Attorney General is also the highest ranking public prosecutor in the country and is also known as the Public Prosecutor, or simply PP. The powers with regard to prosecution is contained in Article 145(3) of the Federal Constitution. For instance, exercisable at his discretion, the Attorney General may institute, conduct or discontinue any proceedings for an offence, other than proceedings before a Syariah court, a native court or a court-martial.
Unlike a number of other Commonwealth common law jurisdictions, the head of the prosecuting authority in Malaysia is simply known as the Public Prosecutor, or PP, instead of the Director of Public Prosecutions, or DPP. In Malaysia, a prosecuting officer is known as a Deputy Public Prosecutor, also known as DPP, and it should not be confused with the previous meaning.
The AG is also the head of the Attorney General's Chambers. There are separate chambers for the state of Sabah and Sarawak which deals with civil law matters affecting the respective state government. Criminal prosecution duties in Sabah and Sarawak are handled by the Malaysian AG. The other states in Peninsular Malaysia do not have separate chambers.
The AG has often been accused of being partial towards the executive or offering too much deference towards the executive. [1] [2] The 8th AG, Tommy Thomas, is the first non-Malay and non-Muslim Attorney General to hold office since the formation of Malaysia in 1963. [3] Pakatan Harapan leader Anwar Ibrahim clarified that his appointment will not adversely affect the status of Islam in the country. [4] Thomas resigned on 28 February 2020. [5]
The A-G's overall powers, roles, and responsibilities are provided for in Article 145 of the Federal Constitution:
No. | Attorney General of Malayan Union | Term of office | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||
1. | Kenneth O'Connor | 1946 | 1948 | 2 years |
No. | Attorney General of Federation of Malaya | Term of office | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||
- | E. P. S. Bell (Acting) | 1948 | 1948 | |
1. | Stafford Foster Sutton | 1948 | 1950 | 2 years |
2. | Michael Joseph Hogan | 1950 | 1955 | 5 years |
3. | Thomas Vernor Alexander Brodie | 1955 | 1959 | 4 years |
4. | Cecil Majella Sheridan | 1959 | 1963 | 4 years |
No. | Attorney General of Malaysia [6] | Term of office | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||
1. | Abdul Kadir Yusuf | 1963 | 1977 | 14 years |
2. | Hamzah Abu Samah | 1977 | 1980 | 3 years |
3. | Abu Talib Othman | 1980 | 1993 | 13 years |
4. | Mohtar Abdullah | 1994 | 2000 | 6 years |
5. | Ainum Mohd Saaid | January 2001 | December 2001 | |
6. | Abdul Gani Patail | 1 January 2002 | 27 July 2015 | 13 years, 207 days |
7. | Mohamed Apandi Ali | 27 July 2015 | 4 June 2018 | 2 years, 312 days |
– | Engku Nor Faizah Engku Atek (Acting) [7] | 2018 | 2018 | |
8. | Tommy Thomas | 4 June 2018 | 28 February 2020 | 1 year, 269 days |
– | Engku Nor Faizah Engku Atek (Acting) [8] | 3 March 2020 | 6 March 2020 | 3 days |
9. | Idrus Harun | 6 March 2020 | 6 September 2023 | 3 years, 184 days |
10. | Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh | 6 September 2023 | Incumbent | 10 days |
Politics of Malaysia takes place in the framework of a federal representative democratic constitutional monarchy, in which the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is head of state and the Prime Minister of Malaysia is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the federal government and the 13 state governments. Legislative power is vested in the federal parliament and the 13 state assemblies. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature, though the executive maintains a certain level of influence in the appointment of judges to the courts.
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong, also known as the Supreme Head of the Federation, the Paramount Ruler or simply the Agong, and unofficially known as the King of Malaysia, is the constitutional monarch and head of state of Malaysia. The office was established in 1957, when the Federation of Malaya gained independence from the United Kingdom. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is elected by the Conference of Rulers, comprising the nine rulers of the Malay states, with the office de facto rotated between them, making Malaysia one of the world's few elective monarchies.
In Malaysia, the Yang di-Pertua Negeri is a constitutional title given to the head of state in states without a ruler, namely: Penang, Malacca, Sabah and Sarawak. This is in contrast to a Ruler which is a constitutional title given to states with hereditary monarchies, namely: the Sultans of Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang, Perak, Selangor and Terengganu; the Raja of Perlis: and the Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan.
The Prime Minister of Malaysia is the head of government of Malaysia. The prime minister directs the executive branch of the federal government. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong appoints the prime minister as a member of Parliament (MP) who, in his opinion, is most likely to command the confidence of a majority of MPs. This person is usually the leader of the party winning the most seats in a general election.
The Federal Constitution of Malaysia, which came into force in 1957 as the Constitution of the Federation of Malaya and was amended in 1963 to form the Constitution of Malaysia, is the supreme law of Malaysia and contains a total of 183 articles. It is a written legal document influenced by two previous documents, the Federation of Malaya Agreement 1948 and the Independence Constitution of 1957. The Federation was initially called the Federation of Malaya and it adopted its present name, Malaysia, when the states of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore became part of the Federation. The Constitution establishes the Federation as a constitutional monarchy, having the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as the Head of State with largely ceremonial roles. It provides for the establishment and organisation of three main branches of the government: the bicameral legislative branch called the Parliament, which consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate ; the executive branch led by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet Ministers and the judicial branch headed by the Federal Court.
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The Cabinet of Malaysia is the executive branch of the Government of Malaysia. Led by the Prime Minister, the cabinet is a council of ministers who are accountable collectively to the Parliament. According to the Article 43 of the Federal Constitution, members of the Cabinet can only be selected from members of either houses of Parliament. Formally, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong appoints all Ministers on the advice of the Prime Minister. The constitution is amended by repealing the Clause (8) of Article 43, enabling a person who is a member of State Legislative Assembly to continue to serve even while serving as a minister or deputy minister in the cabinet. Ministers other than the Prime Minister shall hold office during the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, unless the appointment of any Minister shall have been revoked by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the advice of the Prime Minister but any Minister may resign from office. In practice, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is obliged to follow the advice of the Prime Minister on the appointment and dismissal of ministers.
The Government of Malaysia, officially the Federal Government of Malaysia, is based in the Federal Territory of Putrajaya, with the exception of the legislative branch, which is located in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia is a federation comprising the 11 States of Malaya, the Borneo States of Sabah and Sarawak, and 3 Federal Territories operating within a constitutional monarchy under the Westminster system and is categorised as a representative democracy. The federal government of Malaysia adheres to and is created by the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, the supreme law of the land.
The Chief Justice of Malaysia, also known as the chief justice of the Federal Court, is the office and title of the head of the Malaysian judiciary system. The title has been in use since 1994, and prior to this it was known as the lord president of the Federal Court. The chief justice is the head of the Federal Court, the apex court of Malaysia. It is the highest position in Malaysian judicial system followed by the president of the Court of Appeal of Malaysia, chief judge of Malaya, and the chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak.
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The Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, formerly the Chief Justice of Borneo, is the office and title of the head of the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak. The title has been in use since 24 June 1994, when the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak was renamed from the High Court of Borneo.
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The installation of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is a ceremony that formally marks the beginning of the reign of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as the Malaysian head of state.
Tommy Thomas is a Malaysian barrister and the former Attorney General of Malaysia from 2018 to 2020. He was the first practising barrister to be appointed directly from the Malaysian Bar to be the Attorney General, and the first non-Malay and non-Muslim Malaysian to hold this post after the formation of Malaysia in 1963.
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