Attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali today painstakingly described the difficulty faced by his chambers in balancing confidentiality and public policy.

He said while the public expects transparency in governance, there are standard exceptions.

“Transparency is not a constitutional right. Freedom of information is not a value necessary at the expense of other laws.

“There are common exceptions and this includes matters pertaining to national security and foreign affairs...

"Hence there is a need to balance the conflicting demands of transparency and how to best serve the public interests,” he said at the Legal Year 2016 event at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

He noted that his tenure as AG, the country’s highest prosecutor, is challenging, but claimed he passed the crucial 100-day test.

Apandi added that while he was tempted to answer the issues raised by Malaysian Bar president Steven Thiru, he would instead use other platforms to do so.

As AG, Apandi said he was bound by the Official Secrets Act 1972, especially section 8 of the law.

Thiru has earlier at the event called for an end to harassment of public institutions probing a scandal involving huge sums of money found in Prime Minister Najib Razak’s private bank accounts.