ENFORCING THE RULE OF LAW

By Chandra Muzaffar

One hopes that upholding and enforcing the rule of law will be one of the legacies of Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s leadership. He has emphasised the importance of this fundamental principle of governance over and over again since he assumed the prime ministership for the second time in his life on the 10th of May 2018. The rule of law, needless to say, is what distinguishes a civilised society. It has been at the core of the long struggle for human dignity and social justice for centuries. 

The rule of law is not just about a society governed by laws. The laws must be just and fair. They must promote and protect equality and dignity. When the law is supreme there will be no room for arbitrariness.  All segments of the nation should have a clear understanding of what the rule of law implies. It is a pity that this is lacking in our society though the Rule of Law is the fourth principle of the Rukunegara, Malaysia’s  national philosophy.  

As part of this understanding of the Rule of Law, Malaysians should realise that the greatest threat to the Rule of Law comes from the abuse of power. The abuse of power associated with those who formulate the laws, who implement the laws and who enforce the laws. In the last few years under the Najib Razak government individuals and groups at different levels of society suffered from the consequences of such wanton abuse of power.

It has underscored the critical importance of establishing mechanisms to curb and, if possible, eliminate such abuse.  

• A law that requires those exercising executive and legislative powers to declare their assets and liabilities to the public 
• and another that regulates the financing of political parties are among the mechanisms in the offing. 
• Making certain appointments such as the Chief Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission answerable to a parliamentary Select Committee would be yet another move designed to enhance public accountability.

In this regard, the Prime Minister had also announced on the 11th of September 2018 the establishment of two institutions which are crucial for checking abuse of power especially in relation to the ordinary citizen. 

The Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) was perhaps the most significant of the 125 recommendations made by a Royal Commission in 2005 but it failed to materialise mainly because of opposition from certain quarters and the lack of political will on the part of the powers-that-be. 

The IPCMC was supposed to investigate and act on police corruption, criminal offences by the police and other misconduct. It was largely because police abuses had become rife and rampant that there was public clamour for an independent body to investigate and act. 

Now after 13 years, Dr Mahathir has taken the courageous step of bringing the IPCMC into reality. It is a timely move that is most welcome because there is increasing evidence of bribes allegedly influencing police investigations and of malice stemming from extraneous links driving the conduct of certain police personnel. 

For misconduct outside the police, Dr Mahathir is proposing an Ombudsman Act which will install a public official who will receive, investigate and act on complaints of abuses by all public officials. To be effective, different spheres of public life should have different ombudsman. It is interesting that this idea was first explored in the early seventies by the second Prime Minister, the late Tun Abdul Razak Hussein.  One hopes that it will now see the light of day. 

To be honest, there is no guarantee that the IPCMC and the Ombudsman will emerge as effective, independent instruments for checking abuse of power. There may be attempts by public servants themselves to dilute their independence, to weaken their strength. Or those who are given the task of actually designing these instruments may procrastinate or find all sorts of excuses to delay their implementation. In other words, we should not discount the danger of sabotage or subversion from within.

This is a danger that is real especially in view of the allegation made by the Chairman of the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP), Tun Daim Zainuddin, that there maybe “moles” in the public services leaking information to the likes of Jho Low, wanted by the Malaysian authorities and other jurisdictions because of his pivotal role in the 1MDB scandal.  What this suggests is that action against wrong-doers maybe hampered and hindered by those who are entrusted with the mission of protecting the public good. Sabotage from within is therefore a factor that should also be considered in the struggle to enforce the rule of law. 

All the more reason why Malaysians with conscience and integrity should not waver in this momentous struggle.  

Dr Chandra  Muzaffar is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Yayasan Perpaduan Malaysia (YPM).

Petaling Jaya.

14 October 2018. 

OSTB comments :  I have studied the law TWICE in my lifetime. The second time was when I began courses for the LLB here in KL sometime in the late 80s. But my work and family commitments were very busy. 

The first time I studied law was at the university in the United States in the early 80s. As a Management student I had to take a course in Corporate Law.  My professor was a Dr Frueh  (pronounced 'Free').

The law is a set of rules by which a civilised society governs itself. If you had good laws and the people upheld all the laws closely there is little need for the government to "enforce" the law - both in its implementation and in "punishing" those who break the law.

Mr Frueh taught us that there are TWO kinds of "laws" by which human society can govern itself.

One is the written law or the law that is legislated by Congress (in the US), by Parliaments, Legislatures etc. This is the Law that Dr Chandra Muzaffar is referring to above.

The other "law" is the 'moral law' of a society, the moral values of a society.  

The 'moral values' of a society are much, much more important than the legislated laws of a country.  If the society has low moral values then two things will happen :

1. they will NOT have much respect for any kind of law - ie both moral laws and legislated laws

2. they will NOT be able to craft good laws to govern themselves.

Therefore it is extremely important that a society must have good moral values. 

Moral values are determined by cultural, traditional and religious beliefs as well as the level of scientific education in the society.

If the cultural beliefs are backward and the religion is backward and there is a lack of scientific education in the society then of course their moral values will also sink down to the bottom.

33 people (mostly Indians) died from drinking poisonous alchohol. This was a disaster bordering on a massacre. Yet few people even raised an eye brow. It is an Indian problem. Not our issue. Who asked them to drink alchohol ?  No one got punished. No one got reprimanded.

Two people died of laksa poisoning in Kedah. The laksa seller said, "dont put so much pressure on me". The society just went about its way. No one got punished. No one got reprimanded. It was a Melayu laksa seller. The people who died were also Melayu. No one got punished. No one got reprimanded.  

Six Fire and Rescue personnel were drowned because of unbelievable incompetence (of themselves and their superiors). Yet after a couple of days hoo haa, no one seems to care.  They are forgotten.  No one got punished. No one got reprimanded.

Four people died in the collapse of that pedestrian bridge at the new Eco City. No one even remembers who died. No one got punished. No one got reprimanded.

Four people were drowned when TNB released water from the dam in Cameron Highlands (a few years ago). The CEO said an "international panel" would be formed to study the disaster.  Nothing happened.  No one got punished. No one got reprimanded.

10 people died of food poisoning in Kedah (some years already now.) Again no one got punished. No one got reprimanded.

Fathers rape their daughters. 

In some states incest and gang rape have almost become a pandemic. Do you remember this :

There is no public outcry.  Even if there is an outcry it is only the "liberals" and the so called "super liberals" who make the noises.

The politicians, the Ministers, the "religious people"  dont say much or remain totally silent. 

But there is public outcry when non Muslims want to have a beer party. 
Or when the Christians want to put up a cross on a shop house church.

Who asked you to drink beer? Who asked you to go to church?

Yes the Germans drink beer in October. Also in November through next September.  But their Audis, Volkswagen, Porsche and Mercedes are still status symbols. Ostard suka sangat beli Audi Q7.   

Half the country can still support a kleptocrat who not only stole billions but is certifiably dumb. The other half can support another cretin who has a penchant for tea boys. 

Saudis killing shias is alright with them. Why? Because they are shias. Just kill them. Why? "Because thats what our religion tells us !!" What kind of satanic religion is that?

When the society lacks a moral compass, when the society lacks moral values, such a society cannot and will not enact good laws that can uplift itself. 

Or abolish old and outdated laws that were designed to keep the society downtrodden and dumb anyway.

Without good moral values such a society will not even know what is good moral values.

And even when good laws are enacted the society will not observe the good laws. They will either break the laws or not enforce it to its full extent.

Therefore cleanliness and hygiene is a problem. Our laws and rules on hygiene and cleanliness are the same as in Singapore yet we have so many cases of people dying from eating poisoned food and drinks.  Food caterers kill people, illicit distillers kill people, illegal hawkers dump food waste into the drians while the city councils turn a blind eye (or accept bribes).

So when the society has low moral values, even the laws become quite useless. 

My view is good moral values are the bedrock of any society.  And in a multicultural society the society with the demographic majority will determine the "average" level of morality in the country. 

In Malaysia this would be the Malays / Muslims. This does not need rocket science. 

Religion plays a big part but my view is the way the religion is taught and understood does not impart sufficient good moral values.  

This has not always been the case. I consider this a more recent development - perhaps over the past 40 years - in tandem with the increasing level of religious awareness and extremism in many Islamic countries, mostly as a direct result of the spread of  Wahabism / Salafism from the Middle East.

More on this later.