Day: October 31, 2017

Judges to get discretionary powers over death sentence, says Apandi

Nur Farzana Md Yusof

Source:The Malaysian Insight

The Attorney-General’s Chambers is ready to present to Parliament the draft bill to amend the Dangerous Drug (Bill) 2017 prescribing mandatory capital punishment for drug traffickers.

Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali said the amendment would allow the judges to exercise discretion in meting out the mandatory death sentence.

He said the proposed amendments were drafted based on his experience as a judge.

“The amendments are from me and are based on my experience as a High Court and Appeals Court judge.

“Many judges find it difficult to pass the death sentence on offenders whom they feel do not deserve the punishment.

“But they have no choice because it is mandatory. Therefore, I propose that the government be more flexible and do not  discriminate against the offenders, “he told a press conference in Putrajaya today. Read more →

Court to hear Pandikar’s application to strike out originating summons in RUU355 case

Nur Farzana Md Yusof

Source: The Malaysian Insight

DEWAN Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia and Dewan Rakyat Secretary Roosme Hamzah have applied to strike out the originating summons filed against them by former Sungai Benut MP Mohamed Tawfik Ismail in a case pertaining to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) (Amendment) 2016 bill.

Pandikar and Roosme as defendants filed the application two months ago on grounds that the originating summons was frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of the court process.

The defendants’ application was based on Articles 62(1) and 63(1) of the Federal Constitution, senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan told reporters after the case mention in the chambers of Justice Kamaludin Md Said.

Article 62(1) states that “each House of Parliament shall regulate its own procedure” while Article 63(1) states that “the validity of any proceedings in either House of Parliament or any committee thereof shall not be questioned in any court”. Read more →

Police back on 1MDB case because I am dissatisfied with report, says A-G

Nur Farzana Md Yusof

Source: The Malaysian Insight

ATTORNEY-GENERAL Mohamed Apandi Ali says he has tasked the police to reopen investigation into 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) because he is dissatisfied with their report.

Speaking to reporters in Putrajaya today, Apandi said parts of the report were not backed up with sufficient evidence.

“I cannot tell you what I have asked the police to investigate. All I can say is there were parts that lacked evidence.

“There’s at least 25% to 35% of the report that I am not satisfied with,” said the former Federal Court judge. Read more →

Appeals Court upholds decision to overturn UM’s disciplinary action against five former students

Nur Farzana Md Yusof

Source: The Malay Mail Online

PUTRAJAYA, Oct 31 — The Court of Appeal today upheld a High Court decision which overturned the University of Malaya’s (UM) disciplinary action against five of its former students for their involvement in a talk featuring Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in Oct 2014.

A three-man bench comprising Justices Datuk David Wong Dak Wah, Datuk Yaacob Md Sam and Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof unanimously dismissed the appeal brought by UM students’ disciplinary committee, its appeal committee, its board of directors, its treasurer and the university with cost which was set at RM2,000.

Justice Wong who chaired the panel held that there was no appealable error made by the High Court judge.

He made the decision after hearing the submission from Mubashir Mansor representing UM, adding the court need not necessarily hear the submission from New Sin Yew who represented the students. Read more →

Federal Court sends Fahmi Reza case to Sessions Court

Nur Farzana Md Yusof

Source: The Star Online

PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has sent the case involving activist Fahmi Reza to the Sessions Court, after ruling that there was a procedural error in the constitutional challenge against the charges.

In delivering the decision of the panel, Court of Appeal president Justice Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin said the case was not properly brought to the apex court, due to non-compliance with the Courts of Judicature Act.

The panel, which also included Justices Azahar Mohamed, Zaharah Ibrahim, Balia Yusof Wahi and Dr Prasad Sandosham Abraham also set aside the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s order to have the matter brought to the Federal Court.

The prosecution had obtained the order on Feb 23 when they submitted a motion that only the Federal Court was empowered to address questions of constitutionality. Read more →

Art Harun: Publications Act not effective in maintaining social order

Nur Farzana Md Yusof

Source: The Star Online

PETALING JAYA: Lawyer Azhar Harun has slammed the government over its use of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA) to ban books, saying it will not be effective in maintaining social order and morality.

“With all these books that are deemed ‘dirty’ being banned, we still have cases of fathers raping their daughters 365 times. So, does it work?

“In law, there is a school of thought that says, any law that is unenforceable or impossible to enforce, is a bad law,” he said this at the “Books, a source of knowledge, or a threat to harmony” forum on Monday (Oct 30).

Azhar, popularly known as Art Harun, also pointed out that with the advancement of technology, anyone could have access to banned publications in the form of e-books online. Read more →

Few making use of Child Registry, Rohani says

Nur Farzana Md Yusof

Source: The Malay Mail Online

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 — The battle against child sex offenders faces a major stumbling block with the Child Registry — the database of the names of child sex offenders and their crimes — not being fully utilised by employers providing child related services.

Despite the availability of the registry since January, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim said many employers were still ill-informed about the database, or did not see the importance of utilising the registry.

“Limited advocacy and awareness of the programme has left many (employers) uninformed,” Rohani told Malay Mail.

“Another reason could be that some employers don’t see the importance behind conducting checks on potential employees before hiring them. Read more →