Court nay to Queen’s Counsel for Najib’s SRC appeal

 

A Queen’s Counsel (QC) from the United Kingdom would not be representing Najib Abdul Razak in the former premier’s upcoming RM42 million SRC International corruption case appeal.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court this afternoon dismissed an application to grant interim admission to the Bar for QC Jonathan Laidlaw (above).

Judge Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid ruled that Laidlaw has failed to show that he has special qualifications and experience to handle the SRC appeal.

The judge noted that the SRC case's issues are quite capable of being handled by Malaysian lawyers.

Kamal pointed out that SRC trial judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, while acknowledging the case involved new points of law, also noted that the issues are not too difficult to be handled by the country’s judiciary as well as lawyers.

The judge expressed concern over Laidlaw’s interim admission being of benefit to the local legal fraternity due to his possibly being unfamiliar with Malaysian laws and legal practice.

Kamal said that while Laidlaw may be deemed in the UK as the “star silks in financial crimes”, that alone does not suffice to show he possesses special skills, expertise, qualifications and knowledge of the MACC Act 2009, the Penal Code, the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2001, and the Criminal Procedure Code.

Najib’s appeal before the apex court involves all these laws.

“I am of the considered opinion the (application) should be dismissed as there are no complex and novel issues that require the (interim) admission of the applicant (Laidlaw).

“The applicant has failed to satisfy the requirement under Section 18(1) of the LPA (Legal Profession Act 1976) that for the (SRC) appeal and other related causes, he has special qualification or experience of a nature that is not available among advocates and solicitors in Malaysia.

“I agree with submissions by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), the Malaysian Bar and the Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee that the appeal can quite competently be handled by local advocates and solicitors,” the judge ruled.

He then dismissed the application without any order to costs.

When contacted after the online court proceedings today, Najib’s lawyer, Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee, said they would appeal to the Court of Appeal.

Final appeal in August

The Federal Court has set 10 days in August to hear Najib’s final appeal to quash his conviction as well as a sentence of 12 years in jail and an RM210 million fine for one count of abuse of power, three counts of criminal breach of trust (CBT), and three counts of money laundering linked to RM42 million from SRC.

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak

On Dec 8 last year, the Court of Appeal dismissed Najib’s appeal to overturn the 2020 ruling by the then Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Nazlan to find him guilty and impose the sentences.

Nazlan has since been elevated to the Court of Appeal.

Previously a subsidiary of 1MDB, SRC later became fully owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MoF Inc). The 1MDB is also fully owned by MoF Inc.

Besides being a former prime minister, Najib also used to be finance minister, SRC’s adviser emeritus, and chairperson of 1MDB’s board of advisers.

As part of Najib’s bid for Laidlaw to represent him, Shafee previously said that the UK counsel could help “evolve and mature” Malaysian jurisprudence.

In an affidavit of support, he said this is because the matter involves “several novel points which had never been decided by Malaysian courts”.

However, in counter-affidavits, the AGC, the Bar and the KL Bar Committee contended that there is no need for a QC as there are more than 21,000 Malaysian lawyers able to competently act for Najib in the SRC appeal. - Mkini