The Bar Council is calling for a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to be established to look into the Peaceful Assembly Bill, which was recently tabled for first reading at Parliament this week. According to Lim Chee Wee, president of the Bar Council, the PSC would then be able to garner public feedback and make further recommendations to the Bill, which in his opinion, does not guarantee or facilitate for the freedom of assembly.

"On such important bills such as these, similar to amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code and electoral reforms, this is certainly an issue that the government must include the public in the process," he said in a recent interview with BFM.

During the Prime Minister's Malaysia Day speech on September 16th, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had said that the government will review Section 27 of the Police Act by taking into account Article 10 of the Federal Constitution that relates to freedom of assembly. However, critics are pointing out that the Peaceful Assembly Bill is even more repressive and restrictive of civil freedom.

While the Bar Council was consulted prior the the tabling of the Bill, Lim says that they were not shown a copy of the Bill, save for certain provisions that were read to them. "We were not told there was a prohibition on assembly in motion, or street protests as it is referred to under the Bill. We've specifically informed the Attorney-General to allow for assembly in motion," he says, adding that the Bar Council was surprised at the restrictions and conditions that the police are empowered to impose.

Lim says only two areas of the Bill were consistent with international best practice: assembly by notice instead of assembly by application for permit, as well as the collaborative process that potential demonstrators have with the local authorities, police and affected businesses along the affected routes. "Outside those two aspects, everything else seems far more restrictive. That's something the government must change," he says.

In the following interview, Lim also talks about how the Bill can lead to potential abuse of power by the police, approvals for public assemblies, the Bar Council's proposed amendments to the Bill, and what criteria should be used in determining whether a public assembly in lawful or not.

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