Prominent lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah has an "institutional memory" on human rights issues, said the Foreign Ministry today.

This, the ministry added, qualified him to represent Malaysia at the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR).

"He has an institutional memory on issues which are being discussed by AIHCR, apart from expertise and vast experience," the ministry said in a written answer in Parliament to Kasthuri Patto ( left ) (DAP-Batu Kawan).

The ministry also claimed that Shafee has "international experience" in human rights issues.

The Umno-linked lawyer was the lead prosecutor in Anwar Ibrahim’s Sodomy II trial, which resulted in the opposition leader being sentenced to five years in prison.

This year, Shafee took over as the chair of the commission as Malaysia becomes the Asean chair for 2015.

He was first appointed as Malaysia's representative in 2010 and his term was extended further upon the expiry of a three-year period.