Criminal appeals may be struck out, with right of reinstatement

In a recent ruling, the Malaysian Court of Appeal has affirmed its authority to dismiss criminal appeals filed by the Public Prosecutor (PP) when there is no reasonable chance of the appeal being heard. The three-member bench, comprising Justices Wong Kian Kheong, Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz, and K Muniandy, unanimously agreed that allowing such appeals to remain on the court's docket would constitute an abuse of process.

The decision came in response to two separate criminal appeals brought by the PP. In the first instance, the prosecution failed to serve the notice of appeal to one of the accused, Nor Khairi Nosoha, despite the matter being mentioned multiple times in court. The appeal was subsequently struck out on May 18, with co-accused Azizan Abu Kasim present in the courtroom.

In the second appeal, only one of the four accused attended the scheduled hearing on April 10, leading to the arrest warrants of two others and the inability to serve the appeal notice on another. The appeal was struck out on June 18 after being called up for case management nine times.

According to Justice Wong, the PP retains the right to apply for the reinstatement of the dismissed appeals under Rule 105 of the Rules of the Court of Appeal 1994, in conjunction with Rule 1A. Rule 1A mandates the court to act in a manner that prevents injustice, providing a basis for reinstatement as the merits of the appeals had not yet been considered. Additionally, the court clarified that there is no limitation period barring the revival of a criminal appeal.

Furthermore, the ruling stipulates that the PP cannot challenge the striking-out orders in the Federal Court, as those orders did not conclusively dispose of the substantive rights of all parties involved.