Kapar parliamentarian S Manickavasagam has called on the Selangor and federal governments to urgently amend the relevant laws and standing orders to allow the rakyat adequate legal representation when appearing before state or federal panels.

NONE In a statement released today,Manickavasagam ( right ) also demanded the immediate amendment or repeal of the rule 6(5) of the schedule to the Selangor state assembly standing orders, which downgrades the role of lawyers appearing before the committee to a ‘watching brief' only.

He called the denial of legal access to de facto PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim by Parliament's rights and privileges committee and to him during the Select Committee on Competence, Accountability and Transparency's (Selcat) sand mining inquiry last week as "a dangerous encroachment upon the rights of the rakyat".

On July 6 last year, the Selangor Assembly, which is dominated by the Pakatan Rakyat, amended the standing orders by downgrading the role of lawyers appearing before the legislative committees, thus disabling lawyers from assisting and protecting their clients.

"We also note that the Selangor State Assembly in passing the new rule 6(5) is in breach of the Undang-Undang Tubuh Kerajaan Selangor 1959 (State Constitution of Selangor), which states that a person appearing before the assembly or a committee has the same rights as before a court of law," the statement read.

Manikavasagam also lamented that the denial of the right to counsel or the reduction of counsel to a meaningless role was in breach of the rules of national justice and infringed upon the human rights of citizens summoned before federal and state legislative committees.

The Kapar MP also expressed disappointment that Selcat had failed to reply to letters sent by lawyers acting for him, that they be given the opportunity to address Selcat properly and not merely hold a watching brief.