The Court of Appeal ruled that two provisions in the Extradition Act 1992 were valid

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal here has allowed the application by the Ministry of Home Affairs and four others to reinstate two provisions in the Extradition Act 1992 which were previously annulled by the High Court.

The decision set aside a High Court order last year in favor of businessmen Ling Yang Ching and Wong Ong Hua to declare that Sections 4 and 20 of the Extradition Act 1992 were unconstitutional.

A panel of three judges led by Datuk Azizah Nawawi ruled that both sections are valid and do not conflict with the provision of judicial power under Article 121 (1) of the Federal Constitution as well as Articles 4,5,8 and 9 relating to fundamental freedoms.

When allowing the appeal of the Public Prosecutor, the Minister of Home Affairs and the Government of Malaysia, Azizah said the extradition proceedings are not aimed at determining the guilt of an individual but rather to determine sufficient evidence for the purpose of extradition.

Azizah, sitting together with Datuk See Mee Chun and Mohamed Zaini Mazlan, said the extradition proceedings were committal proceedings and not a trial adding that there was no issue of the Home Minister interfering with the exercise of judicial powers in the Sessions Court.

“We find that the High Court erred in law in its decision to allow the intervention of the Court of Appeal,” she said, setting aside the High Court’s decision.

In 2021, Ling and Wong, who were requested to be extradited by the United States Department of Justice for alleged involvement in a large-scale hacking syndicate, filed an application asking the High Court to determine several constitutional questions related to the validity of the extradition law.

In January last year, High Court Judge Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh struck down Sections 4 and 20 of the Extradition Act 1992 after ruling that it contradicted Article 121(1) of the Federal Constitution as well as the fundamental freedoms of businessmen.

Section 4 mentions the power of the Minister of Home Affairs to order the extradition of a suspect to face criminal charges to the requesting country while Section 20 states that the court must detain the suspect while waiting for the minister’s order to hand him over.

The United States government wants them to face charges in Columbia for allegedly running a global hacking operation to steal identities, video game technology and plant ransomware and spy on Hong Kong activists.

They were brought before the Sessions Court for the government to obtain an extradition order.

In an application at the High Court, they claimed that both provisions of the Extradition Act had violated several points in the constitution that touched on the issue of fundamental freedoms and judicial power.

Senior Federal Counsel Shamsul Bolhassan and Liew Horng Bin appeared on behalf of the Home Minister, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Government of Malaysia while lawyer Tey Jun Ren represented both businessmen.

Tey then informed the media that he would seek instructions from his clients as to whether they intend to seek permission from the Federal Court to appeal against today’s decision.

— Agencies