Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015

Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015
Parliament of Malaysia
An Act to provide for the prevention of the commission or support of terrorist acts involving listed terrorist organizations in a foreign country or any part of foreign country and for the control of the persons engaged in such acts and for related matters.
Citation	Act 769
Territorial extent	Malaysia
Enacted by	Dewan Rakyat
Date passed	6 April 2015
Enacted by	Dewan Negara
Date passed	23 April 2015
Date of Royal Assent	28 May 2015
Date commenced	4 June 2015
Date effective	1 September 2015, P.U. (B) 345/2015[1]
Legislative history
Bill introduced in the Dewan Rakyat	Prevention of Terrorism Bill 2015
Bill citation	D.R. 10/2015
Introduced by	Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs
First reading	30 March 2015
Second reading	6 April 2015
Third reading	6 April 2015
Bill introduced in the Dewan Negara	Prevention of Terrorism Bill 2015
Bill citation	D.R. 10/2015
Introduced by	Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs
First reading	13 April 2015
Second reading	22 April 2015
Third reading	23 April 2015
Keywords
Anti-terrorism
Status: In force

The Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015 (Malay: Akta Pencegahan Keganasan 2015, abbreviated POTA), is an anti-terrorism law that was passed by the Malaysian government on 7 April 2015. It enables the Malaysian authorities to detain terror suspects without trial for a period of two years. POTA also does not allow any judicial reviews of detentions. Instead, detentions will be reviewed by a special Prevention of Terrorism Board. The POTA bill has been criticised by opposition elements as a reincarnation of the former Internal Security Act, which was revoked in 2012.^[2][3] The passage of POTA coincided with the arrest of seventeen suspected militants who were involved in an alleged terror plot in the capital Kuala Lumpur.^[4]

The act is necessary to stop action by a substantial body of persons both inside and outside Malaysia which is prejudical to the security of Malaysia or any part of Malaysia.

Structure

The Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015, in its current form (as of 2015), consists of 5 Parts containing 35 sections and 1 schedule (including no amendment).

• Part I: Preliminary
• Part II: Powers of Arrest and Remand
• Part III: Inquiries
• Part IV: Detention and Restriction Orders
• Part V: General
• Schedule

Notes and references

1. "Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015: Appointment of Date Coming into Operation" (PDF). Attonery General's Chamber of Malaysia. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
2. "Parliament passes controversial anti-terrorism law by 70 to 69 votes". Malaysian Insider. 7 April 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
3. Sivanandam, Hemanathani; Carvalho, Martin; Cheah, Christine (7 April 2015). "Malaysia parliament passes anti-terrorism legislation after long debate". Jakarta Post. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
4. "Malaysia arrests 17 for alleged terrorist attack plot in Kuala Lumpur". The Guardian. Associated Press. 6 April 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2015.

External links

• Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015