KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — The need for a mechanism to monitor third party litigation financing was among the topics discussed during a bilateral discussion between Minister in Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Ministry of Justice of the United Kingdom, Mike Freer.

Azalina shared that the discussion touched on the urgent need for the creation of such a mechanism as there were certain parties abusing the legal system, including the arbitration process, for their own interests, and cited the case of the Sulu claimants against Malaysia.

"We also discussed the first Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) law that will be tabled in the United Kingdom to protect any party against the actions of any individual or company that uses the legal system unreasonably to harass, intimidate and wear out their opponents financially or psychologically,” she said in a Facebook post she uploaded today.

Azalina, who is attending the Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting in Zanzibar, Tanzania from March 4 to 8, also said that they discussed joint efforts and knowledge sharing between both countries about the empirical study of the seperation of powers of the Attorney-General and public prosecutors during their meeting.

"I have also been informed than an empirical study based on evidence-based research taking into consideration the Shawcross Principle and Doctrine of Independent Aloofness will be carried out in the United Kingdom this year,” she added. — Bernama