It allowed the appeal by four former Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia students — Muhammad Hilman Idham, Woon King Chai, Muhammad Ismail Aminuddin and Azlin Shafina Mohamad Adzha — after the High Court dismissed a suit by them to get a declaration that the section violated Article 10 of the Federal Constitution.

Short of giving an indication of the kind of changes to come, Gani said the spirit of the review could be reflected in the recent announcement of the abolition of the Internal Security Act 1960 (to be replaced with two new laws to safeguard peace and order) and repealing of the Banishment Act 1959.

In making the announcement in September, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had said that the government was reviewing other laws to be in line with current needs.

Najib had said that a comprehensive study would be carried out on the Restricted Residence Act 1993 and the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, where annual renewals would be done away with and replaced with issuance of a licence until it was revoked .

Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) commissioner Muhammad Sha’ani Abdullah said with the government liberalising contentious laws t h at curtailed human rights, Malaysia would be positioning itself on the right roadmap.

“This, in the end, will also improve transparency and stop abuse of the law,” he said, adding that he hoped that the government would not appeal the de – cision on the UUCA.

Read more: Review of ‘restrictive’ laws: Expect changes next year http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/Reviewof__8216_restrictive__8217_laws/Article/#ixzz1cXkSy4RA