Hon. Dato' Mohamad Ariff bin Md Yusof, Speaker of the House of Representatives (sitting in the middle) is pictured with the participants of the programme

 

Kuala Lumpur – The Roundtable Programme with Parliamentarians : Aligning National Legislation with International Standards on Freedom of Expression, Access to Information and Press Freedom organised by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) was held on 25 September at the Bilik Jamuan, Main Block, Parliament of Malaysia.

This programme was officiated by Hon. Dato’ Mohamad Ariff bin Md Yusof, the Speaker of The House of Representatives and also attended by Hon. Dato' Haji Mohd Rashid bin Hasnon, the Deputy Speaker of The House of Representatives, Hon. Prof. Dato' Dr. Aishah binti Bidin, Deputy Chairperson of SUHAKAM, Hon. Datuk Awang Alik bin Jeman, Chief Administrator of the Parliament of Malaysia as well as Hon. Datuk Roosme binti Hamzah, Secretary of the House of Representatives.

 

Dr Ming-Kuok Lim, UNESCO’s Advisor for Communication and Information handling the first discussion session
 

In general, this programme has been divided into four session, namely:

1. The interplay between international standards and the Federal Constitution
2. Access to information – A pre-requisite for a functioning democracy
3. Proportionate, Necessary, Legitimate, and Prescribed by Law : Considerations to defamation and hate speech 
4. Collaboration between Parliament and other Stakeholders

Each of the sessions is handled by moderators who are experts in their own respective fields, such as:

1. Dr Ming-Kuok Lim, UNESCO’s Advisor for Communication and Information
2. Ms. Masjaliza Hamzah, Human Rights Consultant and Researcher
3. Mr. Jerald Joseph, SUHAKAM
4. Ms. Gayathry Venkiteswaran, Assistant Professor from the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus