00:03The Court of Appeal has reserved its decision on the Malaysian Bar's appeal seeking permission to
00:09commence a judicial review over the Federal Territory's pardons board's decision to reduce
00:15former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's sentence in the SRC international case.
00:22A three-judge panel chaired by Justice Lim Chong Fong fixed August 7th for case management to
00:28set a date for delivering its judgment after hearing submissions from all parties on Friday.
00:35Representing the Attorney General, Senior Federal Counsel Ahmad Hanir Hanbali alias Arwi argued
00:41that the High Court was correct in dismissing the application, saying the Malaysian Bar was
00:46effectively attempting to challenge the young Departuan Agung's constitutional prerogative
00:51of mercy.
00:52He submitted that, if the King's decision to grant a pardon cannot be reviewed by the courts,
00:57the process leading to that decision is also not subject to judicial review.
01:03Meanwhile, Counsel for the Malaysian Bar, Datuk Yeo Yang Po argued that the application was
01:08neither frivolous nor an attempt to challenge the King's powers.
01:12Instead, he said the Bar was seeking to challenge the decision-making process of the pardons board,
01:18and urged the court to allow the appeal and send the case back to the High Court for a full
01:23hearing.
01:23The Malaysian Bar is seeking declarations that the pardons board's January 29, 2024 decision to halve
01:31Najib's prison sentence and reduce his RM210 million fine to RM50 million was illegal, unconstitutional,
01:39and invalid. The High Court dismissed the Bar's leave application in November last year, ruling that the
01:45matter was non-justiciable because the pardons board's decision formed part of the King's exercise of the
01:52prerogative of mercy.
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