PUTRAJAYA: The Attorney-General's Chambers (A-GC) is not obligated to inform the public on its decision to discontinue charges against an accused person.
Attorney General (AG) Datuk Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh said the power to initiate or discontinue a case is under the public prosecutor's discretion as stipulated in the Federal Constitution.
"The role of AG as the public prosecutor is well established and protected under Article 145 of the Federal Constitution.
"The prosecutorial discretion of initiating and discontinuing criminal charges is the exercise of lawful discretion by the public prosecutor.
"It was done after a careful scrutiny of all the evidence presented by the investigation bodies and also taking into consideration the requirements of the penal laws and procedure.
"While discharging this constitutional obligation, the public prosecutor is not bound to furnish any reason whatsoever to any parties," he said.
He said this in his speech at the opening of the legal year held at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre today.
Ahmad Terrirudin said the office of the public prosecutor must be permitted to discharge its duties well within the confines of the constitution and any written laws without unnecessary external interference.
"All stakeholders must therefore understand this and respect the prerogatives of the public prosecutor and must act fairly towards all parties without being selective towards certain matters, which will only result in sheer wastage of time and resources.
"This is also true in matters which appear to look frivolous or trivial, as A-GC still needs to respond to every matter professionally.
Despite having said that, I truly acknowledge and appreciate the role of the Malaysian Bar in our legal fraternity.
"I have no qualms whatsoever to work in a progressive manner with the Malaysian Bar on a myriad of legal matters to further enhance and improve our legal system and jurisprudence," he said.
On Dec 4, the Malaysian Bar, through a letter signed by its president, Karen Cheah Yee Lynn, said it had initiated legal proceedings in the Kuala Lumpur High Court, seeking judicial review over the AG's decision of Sept 4 in applying to the court for a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) of the 47 corruption charges against Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The Bar Council, in an application filed on Dec 2, last year, had named the AG and Zahid as respondents in their application for the DNAA decision to be rescinded.
It had also applied for a declaration that the AG's decision was null and void, and had overstepped its authority under Article 145(3) of the Federal Constitution and Section 254(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
On Sept 3 last year, the Deputy Prime Minister was granted a DNAA of 12 criminal breach of trust (CBT) charges, eight counts of bribery and 27 for money laundering, involving scores of millions of ringgit belonging to Yayasan Akal Budi.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Terrirudin said the A-GC has succeeded in defending the government's interests and has achieved several milestones in public interest cases, which include election petitions and suits involving high profile individuals.
"The high success rate in defending these cases is attributed to the government's commitment in upholding the rule of law and operating the government machinery in tandem with the spirit of the Federal Constitution and other existing laws.
"The A-GC has always played a pivotal role in ensuring the policy of the government of the day is well translated into legislation in order to achieve the objectives intended," he added.
