51. As men�oned above, SUHAKAM’s authority to conduct an inquiry is s�pulated in Sec�on 12 of the Act which reads: “Commission may inquire on its own mo�on or on complaint 12(1) The Commission may, on its own mo�on or on a complaint made to it by an aggrieved person or group of persons or a person ac�ng on behalf of an aggrieved person or a group of persons, inquire into an allega�on of the infringement of the human rights of such person or group of persons. 52. The powers rela�ng to the conduct of public inquiries are found in Sec�on 14 of the Act: “Powers rela�ng to inquiries 14(1) The Commission shall, for the purposes of an inquiry under this Act, have the power— (a) to procure and receive all such evidence, wri�en or oral, and to examine all such persons as witnesses, as the Commission thinks necessary or desirable to procure or examine; (b) to require that the evidence, whether wri�en or oral, of any witness be given on oath or affirma�on, such oath or affirma�on being that which could be required of the witness if he were giving evidence in a court of law, and to administer or cause to be administered by an officer authorised in that behalf by the Commission an oath or affirma�on to every such witness; (c) to summon any person residing in Malaysia to a�end any mee�ng of the Commission to give evidence or produce any document or other thing in his possession, and to examine him as a witness or require him to produce any document or other thing in his possession; (d) to admit notwithstanding any of the provisions of the Evidence Act 1950 [Act 56], any evidence, whether wri�en or oral, which may be inadmissible in civil or criminal proceedings; and 17 PASTOR RAYMOND KOH Powers of Inquiry of SUHAKAM