Kuala Lumpur: The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) has objected to UK lawyer Jonathan Laidlaw’s bid to be admitted before the court here so he can argue Najib Razak’s final appeal in the SRC International case at the Federal Court.
Deputy public prosecutor Ashrof Adrin Kamarul, who is part of the SRC International prosecution team, said Laidlaw — a Queen’s Counsel (QC) — does not possess experience in conducting criminal trials or appeals involving the relevant Malaysian laws.
This includes Section 23 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act, Section 409 of the Penal Code for criminal breach of trust (CBT), and Section 4 of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act (Amla).
Najib is facing seven charges – one under Section 23, three charges for CBT and three for money laundering over RM42 million belonging to SRC International found in his account.
“The applicant (Laidlaw) is not well versed with the laws involved in the pending appeal cases, nor does he have any experience with the country’s legal system.
“It is indeed strange for him (Najib) to contend that there are no local lawyers to defend the seven charges faced by the accused when lead counsel Shafee Abdullah and his legal team defended him from the High Court to the Court of Appeal for the main case as well as other interlocutory applications for the past three years,” Ashrof said in the AGC’s affidavit to oppose Laidlaw’s ad hoc admission.
The lawyer filed a petition for ad hoc admission before the High Court last month to get its permission to argue Najib’s SRC International case at the Federal Court.
In his petition, Laidlaw had said the SRC International case involved “serious, complex, and novel issues related to several branches of criminal and civil laws”.
“For the purpose of the appeal, the applicant (Laidlaw) possesses special qualifications, experience and expertise which is not available among the lawyers here,” the petition said.
The AGC also contended that Laidlaw did not know the Malay language, as required under Section 11(2) of Legal Profession Act.
“Therefore, the applicant is not a qualified person to be admitted,” Ashrof said.
The High Court had fixed June 16 for mention of Laidlaw’s petition.
The Federal Court is scheduled to hear Najib’s appeal for 10 days from Aug 15 to 26.
Last December, the Court of Appeal affirmed the High Court’s decision in July 2020 to convict Najib on seven charges of power abuse, CBT and money laundering of over RM42 million belonging to SRC International that entered into his AmBank accounts.
It also upheld Najib’s 12-year jail sentence and RM210 million fine. However, the former prime minister was released on bail pending his final appeal before the Federal Court.
