When an explicit procedure is created, follow it or your action can be struck off — Hafiz Hassan

In the case of Dato’ Seri Anwar Bin Ibrahim v Perdana Menteri Malaysia [2007], the former Deputy Prime Minister sued the Prime Minister and others for acting in contravention of the Federal Constitution. The Defendants sought to strike out the Plaintiff's claim under Order 18 rule 19(1) of the then Rules of High Court 1980 (now Rules of Court 2012), arguing that the Plaintiff's action should be by way of an application for judicial review under Order 53.

The High Court allowed the application of the Defendants, and the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, stating that when an explicit procedure is created, it must be followed or the action can be struck off. This principle was later affirmed by the Federal Court in Ahmad Jefri Mohd Jahri v. Pengarah Kebudayaan & Kesenian Johor & Ors [2010], emphasizing that the procedure to challenge the exercise of statutory powers by public authority has been explicitly provided under Order 53.

Brief written by urgent.news from Malay Mail's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.