Federal, state govts must be accountable under Cyber Security Bill, says Bar
Published on: Wednesday, March 27, 2024
By:
FMT, Predeep Nambiar
Malaysian Bar president Ezri Abdul Wahab said the federal and state governments must not be immune from prosecution, to ensure transparency and accountability.
PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Bar has urged the government to remove a provision in the Cyber Security Bill 2024 that gives the federal and state governments immunity from prosecution under the proposed legislation.
Referring to Section 2(2) of the bill, Bar president Ezri Abdul Wahab said the federal and state governments must not be immune from prosecution to ensure transparency and accountability.
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“If the federal government or any state government is found to have committed an offence under this law, they must be subjected to the penalties under the law.
“A lack of accountability and immunity from enforcement against the federal or state government for offences under a Cyber Security Act would defeat the effectiveness of national cybersecurity policy,” he told FMT.
This would encourage a lack of ownership by the government of cyber- security matters, Ezri added.
The Cyber Security Bill was tabled for a first reading in Parliament on Monday. It was tabled for a second reading earlier today.
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Ezri also called for Section 59 of the bill, which holds a person liable for another person’s actions, to be removed.
“Section 59 imposes a liability on a person for the act, omission, neglect or default of a person’s employee, agent, agent’s employee or agent’s agent,” he said.
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He said actus reus (guilty act) and mens rea (guilty mind) cannot be imputed, inferred and/or presumed to exist in such cases.
“The offences in the Cyber Security Bill are penal offences and not tort, where vicarious liability can be imposed,” he said, adding that such cases must instead be proven by the prosecution.
In a statement yesterday, the Bar had proposed a slew of amendments to the bill. It said it had also sent a letter to digital minister Gobind Singh Deo to communicate its comments on the proposed legislation.
“The Malaysian Bar firmly believes that its proposals would improve and strengthen the bill and highly encourages the Madani government to consider and incorporate these proposals,” it said.
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