EXCLUSIVE | The Malaysian government has appointed United Kingdom's leading barrister, Queen's Counsel Lord David Pannick, to lead its legal team in the litigation against International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) at the London High Court.
It is understood that Pannick practises in a broad range of subjects and acts in a wide spectrum of public interest disputes.
According to a high-level government source, the barrister, who is from Blackstone Chambers, has a sterling reputation with the bench in the UK.
"He has been singled out as one of UK's most influential and powerful advocates for decades. Additionally, Lord Pannick is amongst a small group of lawyers appointed as crossbenchers to sit in the House of Lords.
"The most recent in a string of his famous cases is when he successfully challenged the validity of British premier Theresa May's government's invocation of Article 50 of the European Union Treaty to leave the European Union without an Act of Parliament, widely reported as the Brexit challenge.
“This case is regarded as UK's most important constitutional case in decades," added the source.
Pannick has also represented Queen Elizabeth in an injunction case and appeared in numerous cases in the courts of Hong Kong, Brunei, Cayman Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Gibraltar and the British Virgin Islands.
He also writes a fortnightly column on law in the British daily The Times.
In 2012, Pannick was invited to deliver the Sultan Azlan Shah Law Lecture titled 'Scandalising the Judiciary: Criticism of Judges and the Law of Contempt' in Kuala Lumpur.
He was among a small group of elite barristers who were invited.
The source said Pannick's appointment would send a strong signal not only to the courts in England but also to IPIC and Aabar that Malaysia is serious in litigating this dispute.
"There is no doubt, Malaysia will greatly benefit from his strong advocacy skills and presence in court," the source added.
Last month, attorney-general Tommy Thomas said the government filed for an order to set aside a consent award recorded by an arbitration tribunal on May 9 last year between IPIC and Aabar Investments PJS - as claimants - and 1MDB and the Minister of Finance Inc (MOF Inc) - as respondents.
Under the consent award, Malaysia is to pay US$5.78 billion to IPIC and the bond trustee over a five-year period, a sum which Thomas claimed was obtained through fraudulent means.
"The basis of Malaysia’s legal challenge in the High Court of London is that the award was procured by fraud or in a manner contrary to public policy.
"The court application relates to the knowledge of IPIC and Aabar of the serious allegations made by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) against the former prime minister and finance minister Najib Abdul Razak, who was also the moving spirit and ultimate decision-maker in 1MDB,” he had said.
Najib and former Treasury secretary-general Irwan Serigar Abdullah have since been charged with six counts of criminal breach of trust involving more than RM6.6 billion, which is said to be related to IPIC. - Mkini
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