MACC formulating new law to tackle financial misconduct in the civil service

PETALING JAYA: Civil servants who cause substantial financial losses to the government out of negligence, non-compliance with requirements or procedures will face criminal charges once the Misconduct for Civil Service Act that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is pushing for comes into force.
MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) Datuk Azam Baki said each year, the Auditor-General's Report revealed a litany of malpractices among government departments and agencies, some of which were outrageous, for which civil servants responsible should be charged with criminal offences instead of facing mere disciplinary action.
In an interview with Sin Chew Daily published yesterday, Azam said: "In formulating this new law (Misconduct for Civil Service Act), we (MACC) studied Hong Kong's common law offence of misconduct in public office.
"(The formulation of) This new act is very important, in order to act against civil servants who cause huge losses to the government due to their misconduct," he said.
"At present, there is no law that can be used against such civil servants for their misconduct," he said, adding that only the Public Services Department (PSD) or the relevant departments can take disciplinary action against them, a tedious process that can take up to two years.
Some department heads even deem such cases "too small" and refuse to act, he said.
"The public want to know what action the government is taking. We want to take sterner action against irresponsible civil servants."
He said the new act will help PSD resolve the backlog of cases of civil servant misconduct, as well as help check this scourge.
He disclosed that MACC will submit a draft of the act to the Cabinet soon and expects it to be tabled in the Parliament next year.