KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 4 — The creation of an Anti-Corruption Court in the country is among the recommendations of the Special Committee on Corruption (JKMR) which were presented to Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, today.
JKMR chairman Tan Sri Dr Rais Yatim said this was to ensure that the country had expertise as well as the precision to run a court specifically to handle corruption cases.
“There is a need for an Anti-Corruption Court, or a court on corruption to be established specifically, from (the level of) the Sessions Court, the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court, with judges who are experts and who are not changed periodically.
“We have presented this matter, and it is one of the big challenges and has received the attention of the government,” he told the media after handing over the 22-page JKMR Annual Report Book 2020 to Ismail Sabri at the Parliament building today.
The submission of the report book is in line with Section 14(5) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 (Act 694), which stipulates that JKMR must prepare and submit an annual report on the performance of the Special Committee’s functions to the Prime Minister.
Rais, who is also the Dewan Negara president, said another suggestion was for the government to pay serious attention to the problem of loss of case items, due to theft and other reasons.
In addition, another matter raised was the non-uniformity of actions in enforcing the use of orange clothing for those accused of corruption crimes, as some parties are subject to Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) lock-up clothing, while some are allowed to wear formal clothing including suits and ties.
Rais said another issue raised by JKMR was related to MACC’s internal disciplinary matters and the level of people’s confidence in the commission, which needed to be improved.
