PUTRAJAYA, June 11 — Attorney General Tommy Thomas has given his assurance that he will recuse himself from cases involving parties he may have known as a lawyer, the Bar Council said today.

Its president George Varughese said this was to avoid conflict of interest from arising involving the persons concerned.

"The AG has assured us, when it comes to people he may know when he was in private practice, when a situation of conflict arises, he will immediately recuse himself from whatever issues involving these people.

"The solicitor-general will step in as the law allows so,” Varughese told the media, after a meeting between the council and Thomas at the Attorney General’s Chambers here.

The solicitor-general, currently Datuk Engku Nor Faizah Engku Atek, has the powers of a deputy public prosecutor and may assume the AG’s prosecutorial role in the latter’s absence or incapacity, under the subsection.

Thomas, 66, is the first practising lawyer to be appointed directly from the Bar as AG. He has over 40 years of legal experience.

He acted as a legal counsel for Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, who was the then-chief minister of Penang, in several high-profile court cases.

He also represented the family members of passengers onboard missing flight MH370.