KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 10): The Malaysian government has agreed to fully separate the roles of the attorney general and the public prosecutor, a key institutional reform promise made by the Pakatan Harapan coalition in the last two general elections.

This will result in the creation of two separate and equal positions within the Federal Constitution, according to a statement from the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister’s Department.

To achieve this, amendments will be made to the Federal Constitution, specifically Articles 145, 183 and 42, to establish the public prosecutor as a fully independent authority.

The government will also draft an omnibus bill, titled the Law Reform (Public Prosecutor) Bill, to amend the Criminal Procedure Code and 18 other related acts. A separate, new act will also be created to govern the remuneration of both the attorney general and the public prosecutor, similar to the Judges' Remuneration Act 1971, to ensure parity between the two new offices.

The separation will be implemented in phases, with necessary adjustments to existing structures and procedures.

A special technical task force, led by the Legal Affairs Division, will work with the Attorney General's Chambers, the Ministry of Finance, and other key agencies to detail all aspects of the implementation.

This includes finalising the organisational structure, staffing, logistics, and financial implications of the separation, the statement read. The task force's recommendations will be submitted to the Cabinet for final consideration, before the necessary constitutional and legal amendments are tabled.

The statement follows Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement in December that the Cabinet had accepted, in principle, the proposal to split the two roles.

The decision for the full separation was made after Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said presented various separation models to the Cabinet.