PUTRAJAYA – The hearing of UK-based King’s Counsel Jonathan Laidlaw’s appeal to be admitted as an advocate and solicitor to represent Datuk Seri Najib Razak in his SRC International Sdn Bhd (SRC) criminal case, which was scheduled for Wednesday, has been postponed.
In a letter, Federal Court deputy registrar Mahyun Yusof informed the parties involved that the Federal Court had allowed Laidlaw’s lawyer’s request to postpone the hearing.
She notified the parties that the case was fixed for case management on March 22.
The Federal Court initially fixed this Wednesday to hear Laidlaw’s appeal as well as the applications by the public prosecutor and three others to strike out Laidlaw’s appeal.
The court had also set the same day to hear the public prosecutor’s application to intervene in Laidlaw’s appeal.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Bar lawyer Annemarie Pravina Vendargon said the postponement was granted following a request by Laidlaw’s counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah to await the Federal Court’s decision on Najib’s SRC International review application.
She said the Malaysian Bar had indicated to the court that they did not see the need for Laidlaw’s appeal to be postponed and that they were prepared to proceed on Wednesday.
Laidlaw had filed the appeal 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 his appeal, as it said it was a party in the proceedings at the high court but was unilaterally dropped in the appeal.
In a notice of motion filed on November 18 last year, the public prosecutor also sought to strike out Laidlaw’s appeal on grounds that the appeal is academic and is an abuse of process and unsustainable.
Meanwhile, the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the Malaysian Bar, and Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee, who were named as respondents in Laidlaw’s appeal, have also filed their respective applications to strike out Laidlaw’s appeal.
On October 12 last year, Shafee, who is also representing Najib, said Laidlaw would represent the former prime minister in the rehearing of Najib’s appeal if his review application was allowed by the Federal Court.
Najib, 69, is serving a 12-year jail sentence after the Federal Court upheld his conviction, jail sentence, and a RM210 million fine for misappropriation of RM42 million of SRC International funds on August 23 last year.
The Federal Court has set March 31 for a decision on Najib’s review application. – Bernama, March 13, 2023
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