Najib's SRC appeal: Apex court denies UK lawyer’s bid to recuse 2 judges
Published on: Thursday, August 10, 2023
By:
FMT, Ho Kit Yen
The Federal Court has rejected UK lawyer Jonathan Laidlaw KC’s bid to recuse Justices Nordin Hassan and Abu Bakar Jais from hearing his appeal.
PUTRAJAYA: UK lawyer Jonathan Laidlaw failed to recuse two Federal Court judges from hearing his appeal seeking admission to act for Najib Razak in his SRC International appeal.
Justice Zabariah Yusof announced the dismissal of Laidlaw’s bid to have Justices Nordin Hassan and Abu Bakar Jais recused from hearing Laidlaw’s appeal for admission.
ADVERTISEMENT
She added that the court will proceed to hear applications by the Malaysian Bar and the Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee to strike out Laidlaw’s appeal on grounds that it has been rendered academic.
Laidlaw, a King’s Counsel (KC), had sought admission to act as lead counsel in the former prime minister’s SRC International final appeal. He is said to be an expert in business and financial crime laws.
The Bar said Laidlaw’s appeal has since become academic after the Federal Court heard and disposed Najib’s final appeal from his conviction and sentence in August last year.
On July 21 last year, the High Court rejected Laidlaw’s bid, saying he did not satisfy the requirements for ad hoc admission under the Legal Profession Act 1976.
ADVERTISEMENT
One month later, the Federal Court upheld Najib’s conviction, the sentence of 12 years’ imprisonment and a RM210 million fine imposed by the High Court two years earlier for abuse of power, criminal breach of trust (CBT) and money laundering of funds belonging to SRC International.
Shortly after the apex court’s decision, Najib filed a motion seeking leave to review the ruling on grounds that the court had breached the principles of natural justice, including his right to a fair trial and to counsel.
ADVERTISEMENT
Another Federal Court panel, by a 4-1 majority, rejected the former prime minister’s bid in March this year.
Earlier, Laidlaw’s lawyer Shafee Abdullah wanted to recuse Nordin and Abu Bakar on grounds that they had heard Najib’s application for the apex court to review his conviction and sentence earlier this year.
Shafee said that review touched on several issues which relate to the present appeal.
He said that during the leave hearing, Nordin branded his allegation that Najib’s previous solicitors had not got the former prime minister’s consent to abandon Laidlaw’s appeal as “a very serious accusation”, while Abu Bakar had called it “irrational”.
Both judges, however, denied the remarks attributed to them.
Lawyer V Sithambaram, who led the SRC International prosecution, told the court that in a letter written by Laidlaw’s legal team earlier this year, his lawyers had only called for judges who heard the SRC International main appeal to be omitted from the panel hearing his admission appeal.
“It is contrary to what they are saying today,” he added.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
.jpg)
