KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 – The proposed establishment of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) is consistent with the Federal Constitution, according to Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah.
Offering his views on IPCMC’s legitimacy under the Federal Constitution, the former chairman of the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) made a reference to Article 140.
“Article 140 thereof provides that Parliament may by law provide for the exercise of Police Force Commission’s disciplinary control over members of the police force in such manner and such authority as may be provided in that law.
“Therefore, there can be no doubt about its consistency with the Federal Constitution,” he said in a statement today.
His remarks followed a recent statement by Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that the proposed setting up of IPCMC would result in “overlapping jurisdictions and laws among the country’s enforcement agencies”, and was “not in line with the Federal Constitution and was against the concept of justice”.
With the intention of facilitating a more informed debate about the IPCMC, Mohamed Dzaiddin quoted several passages of the Police Royal Commission of Inquiry Report which stated that:
“One effective means of ensuring that doctrines, laws, rules and procedures are observed and implemented is by the establishment of an external oversight body. This method has been adopted by many modern policing systems whose experience has been that internal mechanisms alone are inadequate, unreliable and frequently ineffective.”
The 2005 report, as cited by Mohamed Dzaiddin, also said that: “Purpose: IPCMC shall conduct oversight of police and in this regard perform the following main functions:
- receive and investigate complaints about PDRM and its personnel;
- prevent, detect and investigate corruption and other serious misconduct in PDRM;
- propose measures to the Minister of Internal Security to improve police integrity, reduce misconduct and build public confidence in PDRM.”
The report further stated that “it (IPCMC) will work closely with the Police Force Commission and PDRM’s Disciplinary Division”. – Bernama
