PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysian Bar and four former Bar Council office-bearers were awarded a total of RM59,449 in damages after the Court of Appeal found that police breached their constitutional rights by imposing unlawful restrictions on a 2022 march for judicial independence.
In partly allowing the Bar’s appeal, a three-member bench chaired by Justice Choo Kah Sing awarded RM19,449 in special damages to the Bar, and RM10,000 each to former office-bearers Karen Cheah, Ezri Abdul Wahab, B Anand Raj and Murshidah Mustafa.
Justices Faizah Jamaludin and Lim Hock Leng were also on the panel.
Delivering the judgment, Choo said Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s (DBKL) consent was not required for the assembly at Padang Merbok, contrary to the High Court’s finding.
The court also ruled that the Bar's notification to the police under Section 9 of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 was valid.
Choo said a letter from the Dang Wangi police chief imposing conditions on the march was issued outside the prescribed period.
The Bar notified police on June 3 but received the response only on June 16, less than 24 hours before the assembly, he said. Under Section 14 of the Act, police must respond with any conditions within three days.
However, the court upheld the High Court's dismissal of the false imprisonment claim, finding that the participants were not totally deprived of their liberty.
"While participants were prohibited from marching to Parliament House, they were not physically restrained from leaving the area," Choo said.
The court also upheld the finding that the police were not liable for misfeasance in public office, but dismissed the claim for misconduct in public office, saying it failed to meet the high subjective threshold required.
Despite finding constitutional violations, the bench did not award general damages, including aggravated or punitive damages.
Instead, it ordered interest of 5% a year from the date of the High Court judgment until full settlement, with no order as to costs.
About 500 lawyers gathered at Padang Merbok on June 17, 2022, intending to march to Parliament to submit a memorandum urging the government to uphold judicial independence.
The Bar organised the march to protest the alleged intimidation of the judiciary, particularly an investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission involving a sitting judge.
New Sin Yew and Nur Izni Syazwani Ahmad represented the Bar while senior federal counsel Al-Saifi Hashim and federal counsel Ashraf Abdul Hamid acted for the government.