KUALA LUMPUR: Yang Di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim has given his consent to the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to study the handling of cases involving the sovereignty of Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge.
The Prime Minister's Department, in a statement today, said the King's consent was given in line with the Commissions of Enquiry Act 1950 (Act 119).
The department said the cabinet has subsequently agreed to form the RCI following Sultan Ibrahim's consent.
The suggestion for the RCI was presented by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform), Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said together with the Prime Minister's Department's Legal Affairs Division director-general, Zamri Misman.
According to the statement, Sultan Ibrahim has also consented to Zamri's appointment as the RCI secretary, while the Prime Minister's Department's Legal Affairs Division will act as the secretariat.
Sultan Ibrahim also consented to the appointment of seven RCI commissioners. Former Chief Justice Tun Md Raus Sharif will serve as the chairman, aided by former Federal Court judge Tan Sri Datuk Zainun Ali.
The RCI will also comprise legal practioner Datuk Dr Baljit Singh Sidhu; former Universiti Malaysia law faculty dean Prof Dr Johan Shamsuddin Sabaruddin; constitutional and administration expert Prof Datin Dr Faridah Jalil; Johor finance officer Datuk Mohammed Ridha Abd Kadir, and Marine Department southern region director, Dickson Dollah.
The suggestion to form the RCI was first made by Pengerang member of Parliament Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said in 2022.
The RCI, she said, would put to rest the events that occurred between Malaysia and Singapore since 1979 on the matter.
Then-prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had said that there was possible negligence and oversight on Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's part, when the latter was the prime minister, over the Batu Puteh issue.
The then cabinet under the previous administration was informed by the special task force for the case that Dr Mahathir might have made a mistake in withdrawing an application to review the International Court of Justice (ICJ) award of Batu Puteh's sovereignty to Singapore.
Dr Mahathir, however, said the move not to appeal was based on former attorney-general Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali's officers' advice.
In 2008, the ICJ decided that Batu Puteh belonged to Singapore, Middle Rocks to Malaysia and South Ledge, to the state in the territorial waters in which it is located.
In June 2017, Malaysia applied to the ICJ to request an interpretation of the judgment.
In 2018, the Pakatan Harapan government, under the leadership of Dr Mahathir, withdrew an application to overturn the ICJ's ruling awarding legal jurisdiction of Batu Puteh to Singapore.
