Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012
| Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Parliament of Malaysia | |
Long title
| |
| Citation | Act 747 |
| Territorial extent | special measure, security |
| Status: In force | |
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The Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (
Internal Security Act (Malaysia). The Act was introduced by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak
, approved in Parliament on 17 April 2012, given the Royal Assent on 18 June 2012 and Gazetted on 22 June 2012.
Structure
The Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012, in its current form (4 June 2015), consists of 8 Parts containing 32 sections and 2 schedules (including 1 amendment).
- Part I: Preliminary
- Part II: Special Powers for Security Offences
- Part III: Special Procedures Relating to Electronic Monitoring Device
- Part IV: Special Procedures Relating to Sensitive Information
- Part V: Trial
- Part VI: Special Procedures Relating to Protected Witness
- Part VII: Evidence
- Part VIII: Miscellaneous
- Schedules
Arrests Under the Act
Three people, including former ISA detainees
false identities.[3]
Controversies and issues
2016 allegations and condemnations of abuse of power of the government and calls for abolition
In 2016, SOSMA was used to arrest 15 prominent civil rights activists, including
US State Department. Several civil rights groups also said the use of SOSMA for an organiser of a peaceful rally was abuse of power and that the Malaysian government was trying to suppress dissent by using draconian laws.[6] In 2016, 80 prominent civil rights group collectively called for the abolition of SOSMA, calling it a "draconian" law.[7]
2022 Dewan Rakyat parliamentary motion defeat and political instability
 | This section may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. (November 2023) |
On 23 March 2022,
Wan Junaidi have denied the responses by highlighting that the defeat bear no implication, it does not mean loss of confidence in the government as they are not supply bills or federal budgets, it is only due to the negligence of duties of the government parliamentary whips, the government may still retable the motion as well as it is not part of the MoU and whatever motions tabled must be firstly agreed by both sides before its tabling. A vote recount saw Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat Azhar Azizan Harun amending the voting results to 85 votes for and 86 votes against but it was still unable to overturn the results as it was still defeated by 1 vote. This revelation came to light after Jempol MP Salim Shariff was said to have mistakenly marked Besut MP Idris Jusoh as absent when votes were being tallied on the motion. Meanwhile, Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil expressed dismay at the manually done mistakes as he said this was not the first time such a mistake happened during vote counting and hope that Azhar to improve the voting process system. Several MPs also called for it. In response, Azhar assured MPs that the CCTVs were examined to determine if Idris was actually in the House before the changes were made. He also agreed that there should be improvements to the system, remained open to proposals and expressing the possibility of implementing virtual or hybrid sittings as we have the technology to do so as well as highlighting that the proposed improvements could be brought up for discussion. After being blamed for the defeat, Fahmi has hit back at several government MPs by questioning their absences during the voting. In replies, Pekan MP Najib Razak and Pontian MP Ahmad Maslan
clarified with respective reasons with the former was in court for case managements and accused Fahmi of fooling the rakyat as well as quipping PH of not fulfulling their 2018 general election manifesto by repealing SOSMA and latter was told there was no voting by several parliamentary officers. Hamzah confirmed that SOSMA vote would be retabled and expressed his disappointment and unfairness after revealing that some government MPs have deliberately left the dewan before SOSMA voting as they "did not like his face" and "neglected their responsibilities and national interests" and Opposition MPs of "playing politics". He also reiterated the importance of the motion by saying that "if any large syndicate was crippled, they would need to use the Criminal Procedure Code and bring them to face a Magistrate. What would happen? These criminals might be able to destroy evidence. This is why the 28 day detention period is necessary so that we can find the chain of evidence." Co-chair of the Bar Council Constitutional Law Committee Andrew Khoo however expressed the possibility of the retabling being delayed to 2023 due to the Standing Order 36 (3) which states that a matter that has been decided cannot be recosidered by the dewan within the same session. He also added on that "unless there is a substantive motion for rescission, it cannot be reconsidered. So they can try again next year. But, by next year, the five-year period would have lapsed", referring to
the end of the five-year-limit of the provision to detain suspects up to 28 days on 31 July 2022. The fifth or 2022 session of the 14th Dewan Rakyat comprised three meetings, the first from 28 February to 24 March, second from 18 July to 4 August and the third from 26 October to 15 December. Meanwhile, Khoo said when the Act was enacted in 2012, the Bar Council had said that the 28-day detention period should be shortened by claiming that "So, the sunset clause was written in, to review it every five years, the question is whether, if the government tried to introduce a motion to change it from 28 days to 21 or 14 or even seven days, would that be seen as being substantially different?".[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][excessive citations]
References
- ^ "Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012: Appointment of Date Coming into Operation" (PDF). Attorney General's Chamber of Malaysia. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
- ^ "Detention of trio under Security Offences Act has global impact". New Straits Times. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
- ^ Radzi Razak (17 March 2013). "Kiram's family members among 104 detained under SOSMA". The Sun Daily. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ^ "Maria held under Sosma: shocking news for Paulsen".
- ^ "Free Maria Chin, Abolish SOSMA! · Article 19". Retrieved 1 December 2016.
- ^ hermesauto (24 November 2016). "US 'troubled' over arrest of Malaysian activist Maria Chin Abdullah under security law". The Straits Times. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
- ^ "Free Maria Chin, abolish Sosma! — Gabungan Bertindak Malaysia". 24 November 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
- ^ "Govt seeking five-year extension on enforcement of Sosma's 28-day detention period".
- ^ "Dewan Rakyat votes against five-year extension of 28-day detention under Sosma".
- ^ "Govt can again table motion in Parliament after Sosma defeat, says lawyer".
- ^ "Annuar Musa: Sosma motion bloc vote has nullified MOU between govt and Opposition".
- ^ "IGP: Bukit Aman will use existing laws for cases under Sosma".
- ^ "Analysts: It has no implication on PM's leadership".
- ^ "It's not a loss of faith in govt, says Fahmi".
- ^ "Tok Mat: MOU between govt, Opposition must be re-evaluated after Sosma motion bloc vote".
- ^ "Government no longer bound by MOU with Opposition after bloc vote, says Ahmad Maslan".
- ^ "Opposition's rejection of Sosma motion not in breach of MOU, says Anwar".
- ^ "Zahid: Terminate MOU with Opposition now".
- ^ "Sosma bloc vote: Where were Najib and Zahid, Lembah Pantai MP asks".
- ^ "Nazri: Govt has no moral ground to helm the nation after losing Sosma vote".
- ^ "Sosma vote recount shows govt Bill defeated by a single vote, says Speaker".
- ^ "I was in court, Najib says regarding absence during Sosma vote".
- ^ "I did not attend voting process, was told there would be no voting, says Ahmad Maslan on Sosma".
- ^ "MOU between govt and Pakatan will not be terminated despite Sosma Bill defeat, says Wan Junaidi".
- ^ "Sosma vote will be retabled, says Hamzah".
- ^ "Hamzah: Backbenchers deliberately left before Sosma motion because 'they did not like my face'".
- ^ "Sosma motion may not be retabled this year due to Parliamentary Standing Orders, says lawyer".
External links
The full text of Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 at Wikisource- Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
