PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Bar tonight urged Putrajaya to introduce a Coroners’ Court Act to strengthen the role of coroners in the wake of the decision to reopen investigations into the death of a political aide.
Its president Salim Bashir said the Bar had in October submitted a draft bill to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) on the setting up of an independent Coroners’ Court.
“The duty of a coroner is to carry out inquests into deaths and determine the cause and circumstances of deaths of those who died of unnatural or unexplained causes.
“In this regard, we urge the government to introduce a Coroners’ Court Act, similar to that of Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, and other Commonwealth nations,” he said in a statement in welcoming the decision to re-open the probe into Teoh Beng Hock’s death.
Salim went on to call for inquests to be made into all cases involving deaths in custody as well as cases of suspicious deaths.
Deaths in custody, he said, posed a threat to civil society that is governed by the rule of law.
Salim said the courts needed to play a pivotal role by considering awarding substantial damages once liability was established in a civil suit.
“This is the way forward to ensure that justice is served.”
In 2009, Teoh was found dead on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam, hours after he was interrogated by Selangor MACC in its office on the 14th floor of the same building.
He was then the political secretary to Ean-Yong Hian Wah, who was a Selangor executive councillor at the time.
A royal commission of inquiry (RCI) concluded that Teoh was driven to suicide by the aggressive interrogation methods used by MACC officers.
It also blamed three officers for their aggressive methods which it said had violated procedures.
In July last year, police said they would comply with instructions from the AGC to conduct further investigations into Teoh’s death.