The government of Malaysia followed the advice of foreign legal experts to not proceed with an International Court of Justice (ICJ) review on Pulau Batu Puteh’s sovereignty, according to a court filing.
A report by Free Malaysia Today cited documents that then premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad believed the review with ICJ needed to be discontinued due to implication of cost as well as in the interest of the country
“After taking into account the views of international legal experts, national interest, including cost implication, the first defendant (prime minister) is of the view that there is no need for continuation of the review application, and that a plan was made to do a land reclamation on Middle Rocks as decided by the ICJ to belong to the second defendant (government of Malaysia),” said the statement of defence filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court last week.
The court filing, done by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), was in response to a lawsuit by Malaysian citizen Mohd Hatta Sanuri over Malaysia’s withdrawal of the review bid on May 29, 2018.
Hatta is the plaintiff while the two defendants are the prime minister of Malaysia (who is not named in the cause papers) and the Malaysian government.
BN gave the greenlight
According to the statement of defence, the then Pakatan Harapan cabinet concurred with the withdrawal of the review application, with the decision relayed to the Johor Sultan on June 4, 2018.
“The government's decision was also explained by the then attorney-general (AG) through media statements on May 31 and July 13, 2018,” the court filing said.
The court document said that on Sept 3, 2018, then deputy law minister Mohamed Hanipa Maidin explained to the Dewan Negara regarding the abandonment of the review bid.
It said that in 2016, the then BN administration greenlighted then AG Mohamed Apandi Ali to prepare for the review via research and conducting of legal work.
The court document said that the then top government legal adviser appointed two Malaysian lawyers, Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin and Abu Bakar As-Sidek Mohd Sidek, and three international legal advisers, namely Malcolm Shaw, Daniel Lincoln Bethlehem and Brendan Plant.
“The research work was conducted secretly and was only known by TSAA (Apandi) and the individuals he appointed.
“Three research documents, which were not submitted to the ICJ, were found and based on these documents, the review application was filed,” the court filing said.
Case management
Checks on the online cause list at ecourtservices.kehakiman.gov.my showed that Hatta’s legal action is fixed for case management before the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Oct 29.
On Sept 11, Malaysiakini reported Hatta, 45, filing the lawsuit over Malaysia’s withdrawal of the review bid against the ICJ decision to award Singapore with sovereignty over Pulau Batu Puteh.
At the time of the suit’s filing in May, the premiership was held by Muhyiddin Yassin. However, in August, he stepped down and Ismail Sabri Yaakob was subsequently appointed as Malaysia’s ninth prime minister.
In late May 2018, following the 14th general election victory of the Pakatan Harapan coalition, the then Dr Mahathir-led government had withdrawn its review application against the ruling by ICJ, which is UN's highest court.
The Singaporean government reportedly said it was “happy” that Malaysia informed ICJ on May 28 that year that it would be withdrawing the review application.
The main rocky outcrop, no more than half the size of a football field, is known as Pulau Batu Puteh in Malaysia and Pedra Branca in Singapore. It is located about 15km off Peninsular Malaysia’s southern coast.
Seeking RM10m compensation
According to a copy of the statement of claim, Hatta contended that he is suing on behalf of himself and 32 million other Malaysian citizens, whereby he claimed all Malaysians were affected by the defendants’ unilateral act of withdrawal of the review application without first tabling and discussing it in Parliament.
Hatta claimed that the government until now has not given an explanation for the withdrawal of the ICJ review application in light of alleged new evidence that favours Malaysia’s side in the bid for sovereignty over Pulau Batu Puteh.
Among the court orders sought by the plaintiff is for the two defendants to give a written explanation on the reason for the withdrawal of the ICJ review application and for a declaration that they have been negligent and breached the trust of all Malaysian citizens.
Hatta seeks a declaration for the defendants to pay around RM10 million compensation to Malaysian citizens.
He also seeks an order, among others, for the defendants to reveal in detail the total cost spent by the government to prepare the ICJ review application on Feb 3, 2017, until the defendants suddenly retracted it as confirmed by ICJ on June 1, 2018. - Mkini
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