JUDGMENT

Ravinthran N Paramaguru JCA (Majority):

Introduction

[1] This is an appeal against the decision of the High Court to strike out the claim of the appellant summarily under O 18 r 19(1) of the Rules of Court 2012.

Background Facts

[2] Before I turn to the legal issues arising in this appeal, it is convenient to first set out briefly the background facts relevant to the appellant's claim. They are as follows.

[3] The appellant is a former Prime Minister of Malaysia, having ceased to hold office following the 14th General Election in May 2018. The respondent, on the other hand, was appointed Attorney General of Malaysia on 4 June 2018, shortly after that election. He held office until 28 February 2020. Under art 145 of the Federal Constitution, the Attorney General is also the Public Prosecutor. Thus, in this judgment, any reference to the office of the Attorney General is to be understood as a reference to his capacity as the Public Prosecutor.

[4] Upon his appointment as Attorney General, the respondent authorised the prosecution of the appellant for various offences arising from the affairs of the company known as 1 Malaysia Development Berhad ("1MDB") and its subsidiary, SRC International Sdn Bhd ("SRC").

[5] In the instant civil suit, the appellant has sued the respondent with respect to the 35 charges preferred against him in four criminal cases. The Government of Malaysia was initially named as the 2nd defendant but the case against it was subsequently withdrawn, leaving the respondent as the sole defendant. The said four criminal cases are set out in para 2 of the statement of claim as follows:

(1) The 1 Malaysia Development Berhad ("1MDB") case;

(2) The International Petroleum Investment case ("IPIC") case;

(3) The alleged abuse of power under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 ("MACC Act 2009") case.