KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 — Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim acknowledged today that many of Malaysia’s poorest and most marginalised still lack meaningful access to justice, a gap his government aims to bridge.
Anwar said a guiding principle of the rule of law is that the same set of laws must be accessible to and enforceable upon all, stressing that upholding this foundation is as vital to citizens within a nation as it is to the global community of states.
“But we recognise, of course, that much work lies ahead.
“The ultimate goal is a point of legal singularity where there is access to justice for every single citizen in our countries, such that no one is left without a remedy,” he said in his speech at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Legal Education Association Conference 2026 at Universiti Malaya here.
He said that, for this reason, his government has made access to justice a central pillar of its broader reform agenda.
“All these, in the struggle to ensure the continuity of justice, reflect what we are advancing in Malaysia through the ethos of our civilisational development, Malaysia Madani,” he said.
Anwar also said the need to espouse the law with humanity is not a mere ideal among the stars but a real goal that should be accorded serious contemplation.
He said it bears remembering that the law facilitates the day-to-day lives of citizens, reminding current and upcoming law practitioners to ensure the law is utilised for the public good.
“Lawyers must be more than just experts of the legal minutiae such as researching and drafting.
“They must be the ethical authority, the moral anchor if I may, ensuring that what is correct is also just. They must also have empathy to navigate the human trauma lying beneath legal disputes.
“It is necessary to comprehend the needs of the public, and not to gate-keep the law within a gilded cage that makes it inaccessible to the common man,” he said.
