Malaysia: More join in challenging legality of emergency declaration

• PAKATAN Harapan (PH) will file suit this week to challenge Putrajaya’s emergency declaration, said Selayang MP William Leong on 19 Jan 21.
• The PKR rep said he will meet with his lawyers before starting the legal process.
• “We are working on it but our target (to send an application for the challenge) is this week and we’re hoping to get everything in order.”, he added.
• Anwar said last week he had sent a memo to the lawmakers to urge the king to revoke the emergency order and call for parliament to convene as soon as possible.
• Meanwhile, former Jasin parliamentary coordinator Khairuddin Abu Hassan filed a suit against Muhyiddin Yassin and the government to challenge the prime minister’s act of advising the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to declare a state of emergency to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Khairuddin, as the plaintiff, filed the suit at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on 18 Jan 21, through Messrs Law Practice of Rafique, and named Muhyiddin and the government as the first and second defendants respectively.
• In his originating summons, Khairuddin, among others, wants the court to decide on four legal and constitutional issues over the emergency proclamation.
• However, senior lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla mooted that Courts have no jurisdiction to entertain any challenge against the emergency proclamation by the King.
• This was in accordance to Article 150 (8) (b) of the Federal Constitution which, he said, expressly spelt out “no court shall have jurisdiction to entertain or determine any application, question on or proceeding, in whatever form, on any ground regarding the validity of proclamation of emergency”.
• Highlighting the way Article 150(8) (b) is worded, Haniff Khatri said the challenge should be on the “advice” of the prime minister instead of the Emergency.
• “It’s not a clear situation, as there is no case law yet” he said when contacted by Bernama.

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