2007/12/15
Special Complaints Commission: Critics 'clueless about country's legal system'By : Ranjeetha Pakiam and Alang Bendahara
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KUALA LUMPUR: The Special Complaints Commission (SCC) is sufficient and its detractors should understand its role before criticising it, said Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz.
The minister in the Prime Minister's Department said people who were dissatisfied with the body were "ignoramuses" who did not fully understand how the country's law enforcement and legal system worked.He dismissed claims that the SCC was a watered-down version of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), which was what the 2005 royal commission into the police had asked for.Instead, he said it was only right that the SCC would address the complaints of misconduct not just against the police but on all enforcement agencies."We do not want the police to be the only agency on the receiving end of public complaints.
"It seems like they (the detractors) are only going after the blood of the police. "It should not be personal when it comes to the police."Our rationale is that today, there are complaints against the police, tomorrow, complaints against the Customs Department or the Immigration Department. "Are we going to have special commissions for each agency?" Nazri was responding to criticisms of the SCC, which he had unveiled in parliament on Thursday.One of the main grouses was that the SCC would not address allegations of corruption as stipulated under the IPCMC.To this, Nazri said any wrongdoing which had an element of corruption would be dealt with by the Anti-Corruption Agency."There is no need for a parallel body to address corruption."He also said the government was open to suggestions and would allow changes to be made to the bill at the committee stage."If there are strong and valid reasons for us to make changes, we will do so," he said, adding that the precedent had been set when a clause in the Legal Profession Act was amended after consultation with the attorney-general.He stressed that the SCC will only play an investigative role as there are existing courts of law to mete out punishment. "It is a complaints bureau with investigative powers, not another court," he said.Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan described the SCC as a fair investigation commission."I have seen and read the full draft for the SCC before it was presented in parliament. "I am confident that it would be a fair body and would bring fairness in its dealings," said Musa yesterday.The SCC would also complement the police internal investigation body on misconduct. "The SCC will not compete with the police's own disciplinary board."Even after the SCC is established, we will still conduct our own internal investigations over allegations of abuse by our men." When asked on the omission of corruption in the SCC draft, Musa said there was no need for it."We already have the ACA to handle it. Why should there be another body?"
