DECEMBER 16 — In Remember ‘sub judice’? I reminded the public of the sub judice rule.

Now, is the rule no longer applicable because the jury system in the country has been abolished?

One must recall the case of Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib bin Hj Abd Razak v Public Prosecutor where the rule was deliberated upon by all three superior courts — that is, the High Court, Court of Appeal and Federal Court.

In that case, the accused was charged in the High Court with the commission of various offences including money-laundering and corruption. He applied for a pre-trial gag order — to last until the proceedings were disposed of — to prevent anyone from publishing, broadcasting or communicating in any manner whatsoever to the public any words, comments, discussions or statements which might suggest, conclude or infer that he was guilty of the offences concerned.

The learned trial judge dismissed the application after considering that even if a gag order was granted it could not be enforced against the world at large, and that –

(a) the accused had not shown an immediate threat of a real and substantial risk of serious prejudice to the administration of justice if the order was not granted;

(b) the accused himself had given public interviews to answer the allegations against him;

(c) the application gave greater priority to the accused’s interests than to the competing interests of freedom of speech and expression and the ‘open justice’ system; and

(d) the accused had other legal remedies that were available to him, such as defamation and contempt laws, which he could initiate against anyone who had adversely affected his right to a fair trial or offended the sub judice rule.

The accused appealed to the Court of Appeal which dismissed the appeal and affirmed the learned trial judge’s decision including its view that the sub judice rule still applied in Malaysia.

This despite the fact jury trials had been abolished in the country.

The accused’s appeal to the Federal Court was also dismissed. This means that the sub judice rule still applies in Malaysia.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.