PUTRAJAYA, Oct 12 — The Transport Ministry is targeting the first parliamentary meeting of next year to table amendments to the Road Transport Act that will empower courts to order convicted drunk or drug-impaired drivers to directly compensate victims, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said today.
Loke confirmed that the Cabinet has provisionally approved the policy, with the ministry now working with the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) to finalise the draft legislation.
“We are targeting the first parliamentary sitting next year to table the Bill, hopefully. For now, the work is still in progress,” he told a press conference at the Transport Ministry headquarters here.
Loke said that the proposed legal reform seeks to merge criminal and civil proceedings, enabling trial judges to award financial restitution to victims or their families directly as part of the criminal sentencing process, without requiring them to initiate separate civil lawsuits.
