Bid to review AG's decision on PM will fail: Shafee

The attempt to seek a judicial review on attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali's decision not to prosecute Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak will fail, said senior lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

He emphasised that since the AG has absolute discretionary powers under the Federal Constitution, any attempts to challenge this would hit a brick wall.

"I don't think the challenge by Zaid Ibrahim can go very far. I think they (the court) will shoot it down because it is a clear law that they cannot challenge.

"Many attempts have been made in the past and currently in UK and elsewhere in the Commonwealth to challenge the power of the attorney-general to prosecute or not prosecute. But these challengers failed miserably," he told Malaysiakini.

"The decision to prosecute or not prosecute has always been thought to be unassailable by any judicial challengers, be it judicial review or any other mode of challenge.

"It is trite law," he stressed.

Yesterday, Zaid, a former law minister, filed for relief with the Kuala Lumpur high court to seek a judicial review after Apandi last week cleared the prime minister of any wrongdoing.

Zaid argued the AG has no absolute discretion in his decision not to prosecute in the cases of the RM2.6 billion donation and SRC International's RM42 million deposited into Najib's private bank accounts.

Elaborating, Shafee said the discretion to prosecute, which included the discretion not to prosecute is wholly and exclusively conferred on the AG, who is also the public prosecutor by virtue of Article 145 (3) of Federal Constitution.

"The AG has other functions under Article 145 itself but prosecution is the cornerstone of his power and duties at least in the eyes of the public as the power and duties in prosecution are almost a mirror of the public domain, and therefore the reason why he is more known for it.

"The rationale for granting such monumental powers to the AG is for the purposes of allowing the AG to consider not merely clinical facts and law pertaining to a particular case but he is allowed to consider other extra judicial circumstances that bear relevant to his use of the discretion," he added.

Shafee also said that Malaysian judges are not conservative in presiding over judicial review cases.

"Put it this way, I don't think our judges are conservative, this is a very established law in the Commonwealth especially in United Kingdom.

"We are not conservative at all because we are following what is in fact the Westminster model constitution," he said. -Mkini