QUEEN’S Counsel (QC) Jonathan Laidlaw has filed a notice of appeal to the Federal Court over the high court’s rejection of his application to represent former prime minister Najib Razak, Free Malaysia Today reported.

The notice was filed through Messrs Shafee & Co yesterday.

Attorney-General Idrus Harun said the prosecution team in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case, the Malaysian Bar, and the Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee who opposed Laidlaw’s application have also been notified.

On July 21, High Court judge Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid rejected Laidlaw’s application to be allowed to represent Najib at his final SRC appeal.

The judge said Laidlaw did not satisfy the requirements for ad-hoc admission under the Legal Profession Act 1976.

The Malaysian Bar had objected to allowing Laidlaw to appear here, saying that there were enough local lawyers to handle the case.

Najib had sought to use Laidlaw for his appeal, citing that no advocate and solicitor in Malaysia had the same degree of accomplishment as the QC.

Yesterday, the Federal Court quashed Najib’s appeal and upheld his sentence in the SRC International case.

The apex court ordered the Pekan lawmaker to begin his 12-year jail sentence immediately.

In addition to this, the former prime minister would have to pay a RM210 million fine in default of another five years of imprisonment.

The five-person apex court bench was chaired by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat. The other Federal Court bench members were Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and senior judges P Nallini, Mary Lim Thiam Suan, and Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah.

On July 28, 2020, then High Court Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, who has since been elevated to the Court of Appeal, sentenced Najib to 10 years in prison on each of the three counts of criminal breach of trust and each of the three counts of money laundering, and 12 years in prison and a RM210 million fine, in default of five years in prison, in the case of abuse of power.

Last year, the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s decision and dismissed Najib’s appeal to set aside his conviction and sentence. – August 24, 2022.