KUALA LUMPUR (June 16): Justice Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh has recused himself from hearing Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s application to allow Jonathan Laidlaw, a Queen's Counsel (QC), to represent the former prime minister in his final appeal in the Federal Court against his July 2020 conviction in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case.

According to Justice Wan Ahmad Farid, this is because of he was once an active politician and has a family member who is still active in Umno. Hence, he recused himself because the public perception of the independence of the judiciary should not be put in doubt.

"It is public knowledge that before being appointed to the bench, I was an active politician and, at one time, a member of the administration and the Dewan Negara," Justice Wan Ahmad Farid said, adding that he had since resigned from the party before being elevated to the bench.

"However, I have to also put on record that one of my immediate family members is a very active politician, a divisional leader in the same political party as the appallent."

He added should he continue to hear the matter, it would invite unnecessary criticism and compromise the integrity of the judiciary.

Furthermore, he noted that the independence of the judiciary must be defended at all cost.

"The public perception of the independence of the judiciary should not be put in doubt. It is not a matter of trial and error.

"An independent judiciary is a precious gift to any society. Once it is lost, anarchy reigns," he added.

Justice Wan Ahmad Farid recused himself voluntarily and no requests were made for him to do so.

At the start of the proceedings on Thursday (June 16), he asked the counsels present if there were any objections to him presiding over the matter.

Among parties present were Najib's counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, counsels for the prosecutors in the SRC matter, Datuk V Sithambaram and Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Mohd Ashrof Adrin Kamarul. DPP Donald Joseph Franklin represented the Attorney General in the matter.

The Bar Council and KL Bar — which are objecting to the QC application — were represented by Datuk Bastian Vendargon and Vivek Sukumaran respectively.

Shafee indicated that he had no objections. Meanwhile, the others said that they would have to get further instructions from their clients.

Justice Wan Ahmad Farid is a former Umno politician from Terengganu who served as a senator and was the deputy home minister in 2008.

The matter has now been transferred before High Court Judge Datuk Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid who after a brief case management set July 6 for the hearing of the application.

On May 31, Najib filed the application to allow the QC to represent him in the SRC appeal.

Shafee said no advocate and solicitor in Malaysia had the same degree of accomplishments as the QC.

Furthermore, the lawyer added that the Federal Court would benefit from being able to draw upon Laidlaw’s — who specialises in financial crimes —
experience in the case.

However, on Monday, the prosecution filed an application objecting to Najib's bid. They questioned the QC’s experience in the Malaysian court system, including his Bahasa Malaysia qualifications. They also contended that Laidlaw had not demonstrated any special qualification and experience in relation to local law and procedures with regard to the charges.

They also noted that the Malaysian courts had not allowed for an ad hoc admission in criminal cases since 1971.

On July 28, 2020, the High Court sentenced Najib to 12 years in jail and fined him RM210 million after he was found guilty by Justice Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali of seven charges involving SRC.

The seven charges comprised one count of abuse of power involving Retirement Fund (Incorporated)'s (KWAP) RM4 billion loans to SRC, three counts of criminal breach of trust involving RM42 million and three counts of money laundering.

The Court of Appeal on Dec 8, 2021 upheld the High Court's decision.

The Federal Court is set to hear the appeal on Aug 15 to 26, with written submissions to be filed by July 31.

Read also:
Malaysian Bar to oppose QC Laidlaw's admission to represent Najib in his final SRC appeal
Prosecution: QC lacks experience in local law and can't speak BM, so can't appear for Najib
Case management for Najib’s Queen Counsel application on June 16
Najib files application to allow Queen's Counsel to represent him in SRC appeal