Perintah tahanan rumah tak boleh dicabar, kata peguam kanan

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is serving the remaining portion of his six-year prison sentence under house arrest at his Kuala Lumpur residence, Langkawi Duta. The conditions governing Najib's house arrest cannot be challenged or altered, according to advocate Kitson Foong, a constitutional law expert. The Federal Territories Arbitration Board's decision is not subject to public scrutiny, Foong asserts.

Altering or questioning the conditions imposed alongside Najib's conditional pardon would be unconstitutional, he emphasizes. "The Arbitration Board is not a tribunal or ordinary administrative body whose decisions can be questioned," Foong tells FMT. The Arbitration Board operates under Article 42 of the Constitution, which grants it the sole role of advising the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

"It cannot be debated in court and is immune from public scrutiny and public debate," Foong explains. Seeking documents related to the Arbitration Board's operations or challenging its procedures would expose confidential discussions and potentially undermine the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's prerogative. Any attempt to do so risks delegitimizing royal prerogative and subjecting it to public controversy, which the monarch's powers should be protected from.

Minister of Home Affairs Saifuddin Nasution Ismail informed the House of Representatives on November 12 that the government rejects Najib's request to add another residence as part of his house arrest conditions. He states that the government is bound by the Arbitration Board's decision, which allows only one residence for house arrest.

Legal scholar Nik Ahmad Kamal Nik Mahmood of the National Professor's Council says the public cannot question a decision if the court cannot review it. "Although Article 42 does not specify how the pardon must be carried out, in my view, the Arbitration Board has the power to comprehensively explain the process, especially how the pardon should be carried out," he says.

Foong adds that Najib is serving the remaining part of his six-year jail term under house arrest through the Conditional Pardon and Rehabilitation Program on November 10. His sentence is scheduled to end on August 23, 2028.