Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo has called for the amendment of the Government Proceedings Act 1956 (GPA) to curtail the right of the government to sue its citizens for defamation.

This follows the landmark Federal Court decision on governments being able to bring actions against individuals for defamation, in which it cited the GPA.

"The Federal Court relied on the provisions in the GPA in arriving at the said decision.

"It is my view that the government should consider amending the said act so as to remove or restrict the right of governments to sue its citizens for defamation.

"...The guarantee of free expression extends to the right of citizens to express their views, be it for or against the very government that they elect," he said in a statement today.

Gobind, a lawyer by profession, opined that governments should be deemed public bodies liable to be criticised.

"I, therefore, support the call by (de facto deputy law minister) Hanipa Maidin for a committee to be set up to study the judgement of the Federal Court in detail, and to thereafter propose to the cabinet amendments for that purpose," he added.

Hanipa had called for the establishment of such a committee yesterday, saying a meeting will be held on the matter soon.

The committee, he said, will look at the GPA and the common law Derbyshire principle, which forbids public authorities from bringing actions for defamation.

The Derbyshire principle had previously been enforced twice by the Court of Appeal when striking out suits by former Pahang menteri besar Adnan Yaakob and former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng against the media.

In criticising the ruling, Hanipa defended the principle, stating that it reflects the "sacred right of the people to say something – even seemingly defamatory – on their elected government".

On Wednesday, the five-member Federal Court bench led by Court of Appeal president Ahmad Ma'arop ruled that in Bandar Kuching MP Chong Chieng Jen's appeal in his case against the Sarawak government, the principle is not applicable as there are existing laws available, including the GPA.

The court upheld a 2016 Court of Appeal ruling in the case that Section 3 of the act does not exclude proceedings in libel or defamation by or against the government.

Chong, now the deputy domestic trade and consumer affairs minister, had been sued by the Sarawak government in 2012 for defamation after issuing a statement which was carried by the several news portals, including Malaysiakini.

Other members of the legal fraternity have since also come forward to criticise the ruling, including former de facto law minister Zaid Ibrahim and former federal court judge Gopal Sri Ram.