Criticisms of 'in secret' proceedings misplaced - Najib's lawyer

A member of Najib Abdul Razak’s legal team took several quarters to task for criticising the former prime minister’s house arrest court proceedings, which were held in the chamber, labelling them as misplaced.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee reminded critics that the law mandates that all judicial review leave applications - including Najib’s bid for house arrest - must be held in the judge’s chambers.

The lawyer cited Order 53 Rule 3(2) of the Rules of Court 2012, which states that an application for judicial review leave “must” be made ex parte in the judge’s chambers.

Ex parte means that the proceedings are conducted without the presence of the respondent targeted by the judicial review.

“The criticisms of yesterday’s proceedings that they were allegedly conducted in secret are completely misplaced. I strongly advise critics to check the relevant law before disparaging any party, including the court, in this matter," Farhan said.

The lawyer explained that to put the issue into context, yesterday’s court proceedings were scheduled for leave to commence judicial review, not the substantive hearing of the action’s merits.

“The word ‘must’ suggests that this process is mandatory to be a chamber hearing with the public not invited to sit in (and this also includes the applicant himself, Najib, who was not present).

“However, since Covid-19 (era), ‘chamber’ matters are often conducted in open court to facilitate social distancing. Therefore, the request by (Najib’s) counsel for the public to be excluded from the proceedings is 100 percent in line with the present Rules of Court.

“While I note that the reasons cited by counsel were due to issues of potential sensitivity, which are separate grounds altogether, it does not change the fact that the law requires this stage of the proceedings be held privately in the chamber.

“What Bersih and other NGOs are trying to do is effectively calling for a rewriting or reinterpretation of the Rules of Court 2012 for this case, which ironically goes against their overarching demands for ‘equal treatment’,” Farhan said.

Earlier today, Bersih and other NGOs urged all court proceedings involving Najib's bid to be held under house arrest to be made public rather than in the chamber.

Perception of double standards

The electoral reform group said this in response to the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision yesterday to allow Najib’s application to switch proceedings of his judicial review bid to be held in the chamber instead of regular court proceedings.

“Since the case involves a high-profile individual, is of public interest, and involves public funds, it needs to be done openly and transparently that is available to the public.

“Proceedings of such a high-profile case should be done openly so that the people know its progress,” Bersih’s steering committee said in a statement today.

“Otherwise, it would create a perception of double standards, which can erode public confidence in the government and the country’s judicial system,” added the group.

Yesterday, it was reported that the media was not allowed to cover the proceedings of Najib’s judicial review bid after they were switched to the chamber.

Judge Amarjeet Singh allowed Najib’s application to convert the open court proceedings into a chamber matter.

Najib’s lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told the court this was due to the nature of the application as it involved sensitive court filings. - Mkini