The Executive Committee of the Bar Council met today and considered the recent action of the Police in Kuala Lumpur in calling on Encik Mohd. Rafie bin Mohd Shafie, a member of the Malaysian Bar to give a statement under the Criminal Procedure Code in relation to his testimony on oath given in a trial-within-a-trial is an on going criminal trial. Encik Mohd. Rafie responded to a subpoena served on him by the solicitors for the accused to give evidence in the trial-within-a-trial. On 5th July 1999 he gave his testimony in Court. According to Encik Mohd. Rafie, soon thereafter on 6th July 1999 a police report was lodged by the police in respect of his testimony and he was called by the Police on 8th July to give a statement while the trial-within-a-trial was still on-going.
It is of great concern to the legal profession that even before the decision of the Court, the testimony of a witness can be the subject-matter of a police report and action taken by the police to call the witness to give a statement.
Such action by the Police can amount to harassment of a witness when it is possible for the witness to be re-called and may even be construed as contempt of court. It is fortunate that the trial judge advised the police to wait until after the trial-within-a-trial before obtaining a statement from Encik Mohd. Rafie.
We would urge the police to take heed of the timely advice of the Honourable Judge that it is only proper that the statement be taken from the witness after the trial-within-a-trial is over, in all similar situations in the future.
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Talk on Summary Judgement (25 May 2012) Organised by the Selangor Bar Committee, this talk will take place at 5:00 pm, at the Selangor Bar Committee Auditorium, on 25 May 2012 (Friday). The talk will be conducted by Ramesh Supramanian. Click on the link above for more details.
Seminar on Tax Issues in Financial Transactions (25 May 2012) Organised by the Kuala Lumpur Bar Professional Development Committee, this seminar, featuring S Saravana Kumar, will take place at 3:00 pm, at the Kuala Lumpur Bar Auditorium, on 25 May 2012 (Friday). Click on the link above for more details.
Dialogue with Criminal Law Practitioners (26 May 2012) Organised by Bar Council, this dialogue will take place at 10:00 am to 12:00 pm, at the Raja Aziz Addruse Auditorium, Bar Council, on 26 May 2012 (Saturday). Click on the link above for more details.
Conference on Competition Law (31 May 2012) Organised by Bar Council with the support of LexisNexis, this conference will take place at 8:30 am to 4:00 pm, at Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel, on 31 May 2012 (Thursday). For more details or to register, please contact Vilashini Vijayan (03-2050 2095; vila@malaysianbar.org.my). Click on the link above for more details.
Talk on What Clients Want (7 June 2012) Organised by the KL Bar Practitioners' Affairs Committee, the talk, presented by Ong Eu Jin, will take place at 5:00 pm, at the KL Bar Auditorium, on 7 June 2012 (Thursday). Click on the link above for more details.
4th LAWASIA Family Law Conference, Penang (13 and 14 July 2012) Supported by Penang Bar Committee and the Malaysian Bar, this conference, themed “The New Global Family: Emerging Trends and Challenges to Family Practice”, will take place at Traders Hotel, Penang, on 13 and 14 July 2012 (Friday and Saturday). Click on the link above for more details.
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