{"id":7605,"date":"2011-11-27T01:30:22","date_gmt":"2011-11-26T17:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/buletinonline.net\/v7\/index.php\/2011\/11\/peaceful-assembly-bill-cannot-and-must-not-become-law-2\/"},"modified":"2011-11-27T01:30:22","modified_gmt":"2011-11-26T17:30:22","slug":"peaceful-assembly-bill-cannot-and-must-not-become-law-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/peaceful-assembly-bill-cannot-and-must-not-become-law-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Peaceful Assembly Bill Cannot And Must Not Become Law!"},"content":{"rendered":"
Martin Luther King Jr once said that \u201cthe ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.\u201d<\/div>\n
The Malaysian Bar and indeed Malaysia is now facing such a moment of challenge and controversy \u2014 an objectionable Bill, being rushed into law with unseemly haste without adequate public consultation, which effectively robs the rakyat of our constitutional right to freedom of assembly.<\/div>\n
This Peaceful Assembly Bill (\u201cBill\u201d) is far more restrictive than the current law. \u00a0It is not a piece of legislation which we, as lawyers, can watch enter our statute books without standing up against it. \u00a0It is not a piece of legislation which we want future generations to inherit, without us walking, and spending every ounce of our energy to oppose. \u00a0If this piece of legislation makes it to the statute books, future generations would inherit a nation that is far from modern and progressive.<\/div>\n
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Members of the Bar are now called upon to march to object to this Bill. \u00a0The walk will take place next Tuesday, 29 Nov 2011<\/strong>, from the entrance of the Royal Lake Club to Parliament House, to deliver the Bar\u2019s Proposed Amendments to the Peaceful Assembly Bill to YB Datuk Liew Vui Keong, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister\u2019s Department. \u00a0Members are advised to gather in their court attire at 11:30 am outside the Royal Lake Club<\/strong> entrance.<\/strong><\/div>\n
The Prime Minister, in his eve of Malaysia Day 2011 speech, had promised that:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u2026 long gone is the era in which the government knows everything and claims monopoly over wisdom \u2026<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The Government will also review section 27 of the Police Act 1967, taking into consideration Article 10 of the Federal Constitution regarding freedom of assembly and so as to be in line with international norms on the same matter <\/span><\/strong>\u2026 (emphasis added)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u2026 a Malaysia that practices [sic] a functional and inclusive democracy \u2026 in accordance with the supremacy of the Constitution, rule of law and respect for basic human rights and individual rights.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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This Bill is not in line with international norms because of, amongst others:<\/div>\n
(1) Prohibition of street protests (defined widely as \u201copen air assembly which begins with a meeting at a specified place and consists of walking in a mass march or rally for the purpose of objecting to or advancing a particular cause or causes\u201d);<\/div>\n
(2) \u00a0Prohibition of organisation of assemblies by persons below the age of twenty one years;<\/div>\n
(3) \u00a0Prohibition of participation in peaceful assemblies of children below the age of fifteen years;<\/div>\n
(4) \u00a0Unduly onerous responsibilities and restrictions on organisers and assemblies; and<\/div>\n
(5) \u00a0Excessive fines for non-compliance of the Bill.<\/div>\n
Therefore this Bill is not \u201cin accordance with the supremacy of the Constitution, rule of law and respect for basic human rights and individual rights\u201d, which the Prime Minister promised it would be.<\/div>\n
The Bill is in its second reading in the Dewan Rakyat, and in all likelihood it will be passed after the third reading. \u00a0We must remain hopeful that we can make a difference, through our Walk for Freedom. \u00a0We must urge the Prime Minister to amend the Bill by way of public consultation to ensure that Malaysia will have a legislation in the public interest, which truly upholds, protects and promotes our constitutional right to freedom of assembly.<\/div>\n
We feel let down by how far short this Bill falls in relation to what the Malaysian people were promised in the Prime Minister\u2019s Malaysia Day 2011 message. \u00a0In short, the Prime Minister must walk his own talk.<\/div>\n
Please click on the links below to view the:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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(1) \u00a0Bar Council press release entitled \u201cPeaceful Assembly Bill is more restrictive than present law and must be improved<\/a>\u201d issued on 22 Nov 2011;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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(2) \u00a0 Bar Council press release entitled \u201cBroken promise: Prime Minister has not lived up to Malaysia Day 2011 pledge<\/a>”\u00a0issued on 24 Nov 2011; and<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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(3) \u00a0 Malaysian Bar\u2019s Memorandum on Peaceful Assembly Bill<\/a> dated 24 Nov 2011.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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Please contact Gayathiri Paneerselvam, Officer, by telephone at 03-2050 2089 or by email at\u00a0gayathiri.p@malaysianbar.org.my<\/a>, should you have any queries.<\/div>\n
I call on all Members to support us in this crucial initiative. \u00a0See you on Tuesday, let\u2019s walk!<\/div>\n

Lim Chee Wee<\/strong><\/div>\n
President<\/strong><\/div>\n
Malaysian Bar<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Martin Luther King Jr once said that \u201cthe ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.\u201d The Malaysian Bar and indeed Malaysia is now facing such a moment of challenge and controversy \u2014 an objectionable Bill, being […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"better_featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7605"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7605\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}