PUTRAJAYA - Lawyer Syed Iskandar Syed Jaafar Al Mahdzar has filed an application at the Federal Court seeking leave to appeal in relation to his judicial review challenge concerning the former Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s refusal to a request by the then prime minister to declare a state of emergency five years ago.
When contacted, Syed Iskandar confirmed that the notice of motion was filed last Friday through law firm Messrs R.Kengadharan & Co.
On May 4 this year, the Court of Appeal three-man bench comprising Federal Court judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah and Court of Appeal judges Datuk Supang Lian and Datuk Dr Alwi Abdul Wahab, dismissed Syed Iskandar’s appeal.
Syed Iskandar had filed an originating summons in 2020, seeking a declaration that the Constitution (Amendment) Act 1981 (Act A514), which added Clauses 8 (a) and (b) to Article 150, is unconstitutional, null and void and of no effect on the ground that it violated the basic structure of the Federal Constitution.
He named the Malaysian Government and 10 others as defendants in the suit.
On Feb 15, 2024, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur dismissed the originating summons.
The court ruled that Article 150(8) does not violate the basic structure of the Federal Constitution and cannot be struck down under Article 40(1), which states that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall act on the advice of the Cabinet.
In dismissing Syed Iskandar’s appeal, Justice Sequerah ruled that matters concerning emergency powers under Article 150 of the Federal Constitution are non-justiciable.
"A court would not be equipped to decide on the legality of the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong’s satisfaction of national threats as it would be impossible to adduce all available facts before the courts, and as such it would be inappropriate for a court exercising powers of judicial review to make value judgments of non-judicial nature,” he said in his grounds of decision.
He further said that there was a need to include Clause 8 to exclude the court from reviewing the proclamation of emergency and any related ordinance, as certain sensitive information is only available to the Executive, and it was not wise for such sensitive information to be disclosed to the public and be subjected to judicial review.
Justice Sequerah added that the courts were also ill-equipped to deal with matters involving national security. - BERNAMA