NFA Does Not Mean Closed. And The Police Are Not The Ones Who Decide Whether To Charge.

Two things explain most "the police did nothing" complaints, and neither is usually what people assume.

First: the police only investigate. They do not decide whether to charge. That is the Attorney General's decision. So if your case ended in NFA, complaining to the police station is aiming at the wrong target.

Second: the police are not obliged to actively investigate every report. Under the Criminal Procedure Code, the duty depends on whether the offence is seizable or non-seizable.

So a report of a non-seizable matter may legitimately see no active investigation. That is the law working as designed, not the police ignoring you.

What NFA actually means

"No Further Action" is a classification, not a closure.

Only a Deputy Public Prosecutor has the power to direct NFA on a file.

And it can be reversed. NFA does not permanently close a case — it can be reclassified and referred again if new evidence emerges.

Police have said so publicly. In the Faisal Halim acid attack case, Bukit Aman CID director Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain explained that NFA status referred to particular arrests and leads found to be unrelated, and that:

"This is the standard operating procedure in any investigation. If an arrest does not contribute to or assist the investigation, the deputy public prosecutor will classify the case as NFA until new developments or information arise."

Investigation continued despite the NFA classification.

Other outcomes you may encounter:

• NOD — the report does not disclose a criminal offence
• RTM — referred to a Magistrate, where the matter is civil or quasi-civil
• ROA — referred to another agency for action

The escalation ladder

Step 1 — Appeal the NFA to the Attorney General's Chambers.

Since the AG decides on prosecution, you can appeal an NFA and ask him to reconsider.

• Send a written appeal to the Prosecution Division, Attorney General's Chambers
• Address it to your State Prosecution Unit, or send directly to headquarters in Putrajaya
• New evidence is what moves the needle. The AG's decision will be strongly influenced if there is new evidence

Step 2 — Complain to the OCS or OCPD, in writing.

If the police did not take your statement, or took no action on your report, complain in writing to the Officer in Charge of the Station (OCS) or the Officer in Charge of the Police District (OCPD).

CC the complaint to the Prosecution Division of the AGC. That copy is what gives it weight.

Alternatively, complain directly to the AGC's Prosecution Division, which will then prompt the police station for a response.

Step 3 — Lodge a covering report.

A covering report supplements or corrects an earlier report. Practitioner commentary notes something worth understanding: "The real sting of a Covering Report is it is the first report made" — the sequence and timing of reports matters.

Step 4 — External oversight.

On EAIC specifically, its own guidance to AskLegal was: "It is up to the individual himself whether to lodge his/her complaint with EAIC or the respective agency. However, if there is no action taken after a complaint lodged to the respective agency, the complainant can pursue the matter with EAIC."

Important: even if you submit two reports, only one investigation will take place. Per EAIC: "If a complaint is filed and EAIC has commenced its investigation on the complaint, the relevant agency must not commence another investigation on the same complaint to prevent a dual investigation."

Note the jurisdictional change. Police custodial deaths moved out of EAIC's jurisdiction with the establishment of the IPCC — see (If Someone Dies In Police Custody, An Inquest Is Mandatory. Here Is What A Family Can Do.).

Step 5 — Get a lawyer.

If the matter is significant, engage one. They can correspond with the AGC and the police in terms that get answered, and advise on whether a civil claim is the better route where a criminal one has stalled.

Getting a copy of your report

You are generally entitled to a copy, but note the exception: you will not get a report at all if the investigation or prosecution would be compromised by releasing it.

If you do not get your report on time without a valid reason, you can complain to the AGC.

The realistic context

Attrition in the criminal justice system is very high, and it is not all police inaction.

Analysis by PEMANDU indicated that of the 2.5 million crimes reported in 2009, less than 10% resulted in the charging of a suspect and only 5.6% reached a verdict.

Reasons for the gap between reports and investigation papers include reports not disclosing a criminal offence, matters being civil and referred to a Magistrate, inconclusive initial investigations resulting in NFA, and referral to other agencies.

And of investigation papers registered, roughly 20% resulted in prosecution — with one stated explanation being that prosecution policy is not to prosecute unless there is around an 80% chance of securing a conviction on the face of the investigation paper.

That threshold is the single biggest reason cases stop. It is not indifference; it is an evidential judgment. Which is also why new evidence is the most effective thing you can supply.

What to actually do

1. Establish what happened to your report. Ask for the classification — NFA, NOD, RTM, ROA — and the investigating officer's name and contact.
2. Work out whether the offence is seizable. If non-seizable, police need a DPP's order under s.108 CPC before investigating, and inaction may be lawful.
3. Gather new evidence. CCTV, messages, witness details, documents, bank records. This is what changes an NFA.
4. Write to the AGC Prosecution Division appealing the NFA, attaching the new evidence.
5. Write to the OCS or OCPD if your statement was never taken, CC the AGC.
6. Escalate to the IPCC for police misconduct, or EAIC for wider enforcement agency failures.
7. Consider whether the matter is really civil. Many "no action" complaints involve disputes that are properly civil — debts, contracts, family matters. A Magistrate referral (RTM) is a signal.
8. Get a lawyer if the amounts or stakes justify it.