Court of Appeal Reserves Decision on Malaysian Bar’s Appeal Over Najib Razak’s Sentence Reduction

PUTRAJAYA, July 31 — The Court of Appeal today reserved its judgment on an appeal by the Malaysian Bar challenging a High Court decision that refused leave to commence a judicial review over the Federal Territories Pardons Board’s decision to reduce former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s prison sentence and fine.

A three-member appellate bench chaired by Judge Datuk Lim Chong Fong reserved its decision after hearing oral submissions from counsel representing the Malaysian Bar, the Attorney-General, and Najib’s legal team.

Justice Lim, who presided alongside Justices Datuk Azhahari Kamal Ramli and Datuk Leonard David Shim, confirmed that a case management date has been set for Aug 7 to fix the date for the verdict.

“We need time to deliberate, and we have fixed Aug 7 for case management to set a date to deliver the decision,” Justice Lim announced.

The legal challenge stems from the High Court’s dismissal in November 2024 of the Malaysian Bar’s leave application, which sought to initiate judicial review proceedings to quash the Pardons Board’s Jan 29, 2024 decision.

Submitting for the appellant, counsel Datuk Yeo Yang Poh argued that the decision of the Pardons Board is justiciable and that the application specifically challenges the administrative decision-making process rather than the royal prerogative itself.

“The judicial review application is not to review the power of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong but to challenge the decision of the Pardons Board. It is important for leave to be granted at this stage. We pray that the appeal be allowed and the case be remitted to the High Court for a substantive hearing,” Yeo submitted, emphasizing that the matter raised was not frivolous.

Countering the appeal, Senior Federal Counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly @ Arwi, appearing for the Attorney-General, submitted that the High Court judge was correct in deeming the application non-justiciable and frivolous, maintaining that the prerogative of mercy under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution is immune from judicial scrutiny.

“Therefore, the AG submits that if the decision to grant a pardon is not susceptible to judicial review, it follows that the process leading to it is also not susceptible to judicial review,” Ahmad Hanir contended.

Najib’s lead counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, adopted the submissions presented by the Senior Federal Counsel.

The Malaysian Bar originally initiated the legal action on April 26, 2024, naming the Pardons Board of the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, and Putrajaya, alongside Najib, as respondents.

The Bar is seeking declarations that the Pardons Board’s decision to halve Najib’s 12-year prison sentence—enabling his early release on Aug 23, 2028—is illegal, unconstitutional, and void. It is similarly seeking to invalidate the reduction of his fine from RM210 million to RM50 million, under which failure to pay would extend his prison term by one year, pushing his early release to Aug 23, 2029.

Najib, 73, has been serving his sentence at Kajang Prison since Aug 23, 2022, following his conviction for misappropriating RM42 million from SRC International Sdn Bhd. He submitted his petition for a royal pardon on Sept 2, 2022, which resulted in the board halving his prison sentence and reducing his fine.

–NMT