PUTRAJAYA – The Federal Court has fixed April 6 for another case management in UK-based lawyer Jonathan Laidlaw’s appeal to be admitted as an advocate and solicitor to represent Datuk Seri Najib Razak in his SRC International Sdn Bhd criminal case.
This was confirmed by deputy public prosecutor Mohd Ashrof Adrin Kamarul and lawyer for the Malaysian Bar, Annemarie Pravina Vendargon, when contacted following case management of the appeal today.
Annemarie said the date for the case management was fixed pending the decision of Najib’s review which is due to be delivered on March 31.
She said the hearing date will be fixed during the next case management.
Today’s case management was also attended by lawyer Wan Muhammad Arfan Wan Othman, representing Laidlaw, and federal counsel Noor Atiqah Zainal Abidin, appearing on behalf of the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC).
Also present was lawyer Lim Sze Han, representing the KL Bar committee.
The Federal Court was supposed to hear the appeal by Laidlaw, who is a King’s Counsel, as well as the applications by the public prosecutor and three others to strike out the UK lawyer’s appeal and the public prosecutor’s application to intervene in the appeal last March 15.
However, the hearing was postponed and a case management was fixed for today and held before Federal Court deputy registrar Suhaila Haron.
Laidlaw had filed an appeal to the Federal Court after the high court rejected his application to be admitted as an advocate and solicitor on July 21 last year.
The public prosecutor, who was not named as a respondent in Laidlaw’s appeal, subsequently filed an intervener application to be included as the fourth respondent in the appeal on grounds that it was a party in the proceedings at the high court, but was unilaterally dropped in the appeal.
In a notice of motion, which was filed on November 18, last year, the public prosecutor also sought to strike out Laidlaw’s appeal on grounds that it is academic, an abuse of process, and unsustainable.
Meanwhile, the AGC, Malaysian Bar, and KL Bar committee, named as respondents in Laidlaw’s appeal, have also filed their respective applications to strike out the appeal.
Najib, 69, is serving 12 years in jail after the Federal Court upheld his conviction, jail sentence, and RM210 million fine for misappropriation of RM42 million in SRC International funds on August 23, last year.
The Federal Court has set March 31 for the decision on the former prime minister’s review application. – Bernama, March 22, 2023
