IN a historical first, the Court of Appeal will hear civil cases via live streaming tomorrow.

Under this pilot project, the public may view the proceedings.

“The public will be able to view the proceedings as though they are in an open court,” said the Chief Registrar of the Federal Court of Malaysia in a statement today.

“This is to ensure that access to justice continues” to be available amid a movement control order enforced to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The Covid-19 virus has so far infected 5,482 people and killed 92 in Malaysia.

The court will hear three cases tomorrow. They are are Zhao Fangliang v Syarikat Pengangkutan Satu Hati Sdn Bhd; Jin Haifang v Syarikat Pengangkutan Satu Hati Sdn Bhd; and Zhu Cunhua v Syarikat Pengangkutan Satu Hati Sdn Bhd, according to the judiciary website.

Save remand and bail applications, the courts have deferred hearings since the MCO was enforced on March 18. The shutdown has since been extended until April 28.

During this period, civil proceedings may be filed via email. Criminal hearings will not take place during this period because the law requires the accused to be present in court during the proceedings.

High-profile corruption trials such as Najib Razak’s, which was scheduled to resume on March 19, have since been deferred.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and former federal territories minister Tengku Adnan Mansor have also had their trials postponed. – April 22, 2020.