Cecil Abraham And Partners

INTRODUCTION In Siemens Industry Software Gmbh & Co Kg (Germany) (formerly known as Innotec Gmbh) v Jacob and Toralf Consulting Sdn Bhd (formerly known as Innotec Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd) (Malaysia) & Ors[1], the Federal Court of Malaysia had the opportunity to address the following question of law:

INTRODUCTION Rule 137 of the Rules of the Federal Court 1995[1] recognises the Federal Court of Malaysia's (“Federal Court”) inherent power to inter alia review previous decisions in order to prevent an injustice or an abuse of process. Over the years, this rule has been resorted to by litigants where they find themselves unable to ground an application on an express rule in the Rules of the Federal Court 1995.  Rule 137 has been mostly utilised to set aside decisions handed down by the Federal Court.

INTRODUCTION In Malaysia, the interplay between the notion of freedom of expression, the rights of the media to publish statements as well as articles at will, and the law of defamation is very much a complex one. This is particularly exacerbated in a country of diverse political views, differing social and economic backgrounds, increasing wealth gaps between the minority urban elite and the majority rural folk as well as increasing racial polarisation. In this context, the role of online news platforms or blogs seeking to provide different perspectives by reference to the daily news, political viewpoints or perceived matters of general or public interest has become increasingly prevalent – the historical reliance on receiving news or insights from traditional broadsheets no longer being the norm.

On 2nd July 2021, in Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd & 3 Ors v Raub Australian Gold Mining Sdn Bhd (Federal Court Civil Appeal No. 02(f)-61-08/2018(W), the Federal Court of Malaysia by majority in dismissing the appeal filed by Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd and its journalists, held, inter-alia, that:

On 28th July 2021, in Tan Bun Teet & 2 Ors v Tun Dr Mahathir Bin Mohamad & 30 Ors (Judicial Review Application No. WA-25-508-11/2019), the High Court of Malaya at Kuala Lumpur dismissed the judicial review proceedings filed by Tan Bun Teet, Ismail Bin Abu Bakar and Ponusamy a/l Govindasamy (“the Applicants”) effectively seeking to quash the fourth full operating licence issued to Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd (“Lynas”) for the period 3rd September 2019 to 2nd March 2020 in relation to the operation of one of the world’s largest rare earth plants in Gebeng, Pahang Darul Makmur.