More questions about Gulen in the international media: Meanwhile NSW Governor Beazley,Premier Berjelikian and AG Speakman maintain silence, even as their annual Gulen Iftar approaches

by Ganesh Sahathevan




First see from SBS :Turkey's 'most-wanted terrorist' and his well-connected friends in Australia

Gulen’s supporters in Australia, and they are many, think this is absurd. They have considerable support among Australian politicians.


(Turkey's Ambassador to Australia) Gokdenizler tells SBS: “Of course we are concerned, and of course we warned both federal and state authorities about how we approach these groups. This is not something new. We have been doing it for a few years.”

But he concedes: “The things is, I have no way of knowing whether there are some terrorist activities in Australia. But since the government of NSW is [hosting the iftar dinner], they’re not seen as such.”

And:

Margaret Coffey, ABC Radio National, 4 September 2013:

............. the Gülen movement is active in this country and influential and eminent figures in government, politics, academia, the police and the judiciary are associated with its activities. For example, though they don’t declare it on their websites, organisations such as the Australian Intercultural Society, AIS, in Victoria, or Affinity Intercultural Foundation, AIF, in NSW, are parts of this trans-national movement.
(The Gülen movement's mysterious role in modern Turkey)


Additionally:
NSW AG Speakman must explain affinity with the Fetullah Gulen Terrorist Organisation ,despite action against FETO by Turkey, Indonesia and Malaysia.



And now this, aired in April 2019 by Russia's RTD  which provides the kind of analysis that one never sees or hears in Australia:

References

ABC RN reported in 2013 that eminent figures in the judiciary "are associated with" Gulen activities-In 2019 AG NSW found that to so say so is to lack "insight",and to disrespect the judiciary (and he) 

by Ganesh Sahatahevan


Margaret Coffey, ABC Radio National, 4 September 2013:

............. the Gülen movement is active in this country and influential and eminent figures in government, politics, academia, the police and the judiciary are associated with its activities. For example, though they don’t declare it on their websites, organisations such as the Australian Intercultural Society, AIS, in Victoria, or Affinity Intercultural Foundation, AIF, in NSW, are parts of this trans-national movement.
(The Gülen movement's mysterious role in modern Turkey)




Ganesh Sahathevan, TerrorFinance ,June 15 2018(see story below)

The Hon Justice M J Beazley AO, President Of The Court Of Appeal ,State Of NSW, Australia ,said in a speech delivered in 2014, but not widely reported:
"...despite a perception that Islam and the Australian law are incompatible, this is not borne out by the caselaw"
She did so in conjunction with the Affinity Intercultural Foundation, the Australian arm of the Fetullah Gulen movement, While Gulen and his followers have been recently victimised by former friend and ally Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the president of Turkey who they helped install, Gulen and his people are not innocent of jihadi activity.
They are nevertheless quite adapt at recruiting Western "intellectuals" to promote their, cause, Her Honour is only the most recent.

(see story below Australian judge says syariah & Australian law compatible -Comments in conjunction with the FetullahGulen movement)

The AG NSW and his Legal Profession Admission Board have declared the latter as proof that Sahathevan (this writer) lacks insight and has shown disrespect for then then judge and now Governor designate Beazley, and of course he.

Now see:

Gladys Berejiklian (right) and Margaret Beazley - AAPMargaret Beazley QC will be the next governor of NSW.

NSW Premier Berejiklian and her  AG Mark Speakman SC continue to maintain their silence on the matter of their dalliance with the the Gulen movement, better known these days as the Fetullah Gulen Terrorist Organisation (FETO).
NSW's Gulen problem can only worsen, given governor designate Margaret Beazley's presence at a number of events organised by the Gulen movement's local arm, the Affinity Intercutural Group.
At one event Beazley ,then President Of The Court Of Appeal NSW, said:

"...despite a perception that Islam and the Australian law are incompatible, this is not borne out by the caselaw".

Her speech is archived on the NSW Supreme Court website:

The intersection of Australian law and the Islamic faith:a selection of casesAffinity Intercultural FoundationThe Hon Justice M J Beazley AO1


This writer has been informed by the Legal Profession Admission Board, a body under the purview of the Attorney General NSW that statements linking Beazley to Gulen and are considered defamatory of Beazley. This writer  has offered to share intelligence with Beazley and the AG, but the offer has been ignored.

Meanwhile, Turkey's ambassador to Turkey has had this to say about the Gulen movement's high powered links in NSW:

“Of course we are concerned, and of course we warned both federal and state authorities about how we approach these groups. This is not something new. We have been doing it for a few years.”

But he concedes: “The things is, I have no way of knowing whether there are some terrorist activities in Australia. But since the government of NSW is [hosting the iftar dinner], they’re not seen as such.”

(See Turkey's 'most-wanted terrorist' and his well-connected friends in Australia)

The Premier, her AG and their governor designate seem not to understand that for so long as Turkey and Australia maintain diplomatic relations , their dalliances with the Gulen movement will be seen as acts that threaten the interests of a friendly country.

Given recent interest from local parties in this writer's story below,it does appear that the AG's Department Of Justice has been busy trying to find a well researched legal answer to the issues raised below. This writer can attest that the Department has difficulty applying legal concepts to actual facts,such as those outlined by the Turkish ambassador and in the articles below.

END 

References 

JAN 6  2019

NSW Government's Gulen FITS problem: Premier and AG should not,cannot be allowed to determine if Gulen associates are exempt from FITS registration 

by Ganesh Sahathevan

The Shadowy Gülen Movement-Why is it still welcome at Parliament House NSW?
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and the NSW AG Speakman have yet to explain their government's affinity with the Fetullah Gulen Terrorist Organisation ,despite action against FETO by Turkey, Indonesia and Malaysia.


Meanwhile The Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme (Scheme) has commenced, on 10 December 2018, but the public register remains empty.The Gulen movement's Australian representatives, which include the Affinity Intercultural Group are obvious candidates, but the Group's decision to not register pursuant to the requirements of the Scheme can be seen to have the approval of the Premier, the AG, and various members of the judiciary.

The Gulen movement has a history of influence peddling here and overseas. 

END 

SEE ALSO

The Case against Gülen;Dr Bruce Mabley;04 JAN 2017.

Turkey: The Gulen Dilemma;Dr Bruce Mabley;07 DEC 2016

Australian judge says syariah & Australian law compatible -Comments in conjunction with the  FetullahGulen movement

by Ganesh Sahathevan


Margaret Joan Beazley AO
The Hon Justice M J Beazley AO, President Of The Court Of Appeal ,State Of NSW, Australia ,said in a speech delivered in 2014, but  not widely reported:
"...despite a perception that Islam and the Australian law are incompatible, this is not borne out by the caselaw"
She did so in conjunction with  the  Affinity Intercultural Foundation,  the Australian arm of the Fetullah Gulen movement. While Gulen and his followers have been recently victimised by former friend and ally Recep Tayyip  Erdoğan, the president of Turkey who they helped install, Gulen and his people are not innocent of jihadi activity.
They are nevertheless quite adapt at recruiting Western "intellectuals" to promote their, cause, Her Honour is only the most recent.There is this other incident :

Erdogan,AKP backer Fetullah Gulen finds support for Islamist cause from Australia's Catholic University

For reference:

More on Erdogan backer Fetullah Gulen

I have previously written about the Fetullah Gulen and his movement , and their influence in Turkey. I have drawn special attention to their support for Turkish PM Erdogan,and Erdogan's support for the SDGT Yassin Al-Kadi ( http://www.terrorfinance.org/the_terror_finance_blog/2007/08/erdoganakp-back.html )
The article also draws attention to the charges brought against Gulen by previous Turkish Governments, in regards to his attempts to establish an Islamic state in Turkey.
A part of the Gulen organisation is the Society for Social and Economic Solidarity with Pacific Countries (PASIAD).
PASIAD serves at least 3 functions:
a) to promote trade and development by assisting Turkish and Asian businessmen establish contact with each other. (see http://en.fgulen.com/content/view/2198/31/ )
b) the establishment of Turkish schools. In 2004, 4 teachers at a PASIAD school in the Philippines were arrested on suspicion of involvement in terrorist activities.The school is located in the southern Philippines city of Cotobato, where the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is active.(see ( http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/04/02/a1_9.php)
c) propagation of the Islamic faith
In regards to paragraph a), attention is drawn to the fact that PASIAD funds study tours of Turkey by persons with whom Gulen chapters in various countries have sought to build relations. In Australia PASIAD funded a tour of Turkey by an assistant commissioner of police, Ken Lay and his wife. The tour included meetings with various business people in Turkey .( http://www.intercultural.org.au/edialogue/2007/August/index.html )
The assistant commissioner has refused to respond to all queries sent him regarding his trip to Turkey and the business people he met. The questions were put to him in context of Erdogan's support for the SDGT Yassin Al-Kadi.
In regards to paragraph b), attention is drawn to the following matters:
Gulen schools in Russia and Central Asia have been investigated, some closed down for encouraging fundamentalism ,and the terrorism that springs from it (see for example http://www.eurasianet.org/resource/azerbaijan/hypermail/200202/0031.shtml )
In the 1990s, the growth in Turkey of both political Islam and an Islamic-driven pan-Turkism that envisions uniting all the Turkic-- speaking nations from the Mediterranean to China, created problems for Turkey in Central Asia. In 1999, Tashkent shut down the Turkish schools in Uzbekistan run by the Turkish Sufi cleric Fetullah Gulen, accusing them of supporting Islamic groups. (The fires of faith in Central Asia,Ahmed Rashid,1 April 2001,World Policy Journal
45-55,Volume 18, Issue 1)
Even in the Gulen movement's own words , there was little difference between Gulen and the Gray Wolves, best known outside Turkey for the attempted assassination of the late Pope John Paul II by one of their members , Mehmet Ali Agca ( see http://en.fgulen.com/content/view/1208/23/)
In regards to paragraph c), suffice to say that being Sufi has not prevented the Gulen movement in PASIAD from working with Sunni groups such as the World Civilization Research Group of Malaysia (or by the Malay acronym , GPTD).
The GPTD is part of the Malaysian Muslim Youth Force (ABIM), founded by Anwar Ibrahim of the International Institute of Islamci Thought. ABIM continues to maintain strong links with the IIIT even as the latter is being investigated for financing terrorism related activities in the US and elsewhere.

Posted by Ganesh Sahathevan on October 21, 2007 at 18:46 | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

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Posted by Ganesh Sahathevan on June 15, 2018 at 19:36 | Permalink

Posted 6th March by Anonymous

Najib's SRC trial: AmBank manager R. Uma Devi is not the only source of evidence;other more important bits of evidence appear to have been ignored.

by Ganesh Sahathevan

Ambank manager Uma Devi (left), who testified at the trial of Najib Razak. There seems to be an unhealthy reliance on her testimony.

The Straits Times and others have reported today:

 A sum of RM1.9 billion (S$626 million) was credited into one of Malaysia's former premier Najib Razak's private bank accounts between 2011 and 2013, the High Court heard on Monday (April 29).

Part of the money was purportedly a donation from one "Prince Faisal al Turki" and the Finance Ministry of Saudi Arabia.

This was confirmed by AmBank manager R. Uma Devi during cross-examination by Najib's counsel Harvinderjit Singh.

Meanwhile, this writer had, in 2015,  analysed bank remittance documents placed in the public domain by WSJ  which suggested that the remittance into Najib's account was not a donation. This writer and others had expected, in 2015, that a change of government would allow investigation  of the details disclosed in the documents but that appears not to have been done.Had it been done, the prosecution would not have to rely solely on Ms Uma Devi's testimony about Najib's bank statements.
That would be no need to allegedly purport anything.
END

Thursday, August 6, 2015

On the matter of the US$ 681 million donation to Prime Minister Najib Razak: Sender did not describe payment as a donation

by Ganesh Sahathevan
The Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has said that  someone has sent him a donation of US$ 681 million, via Wells Fargo Bank of New York, using a BVI company (since liquidated) called Tanore Finance. That company was a client of Falcon Private Bank Of Singapore, which was the ordering institution for that wire transfer.

The Wall Street Journal which broke the story of that massive "donation" has placed on-line the relevant documents.

Readers are referred to pages 2 and 3 of the documents,and to the items marked70-Remittance Information.
Curiously the transfers  (the sum total was paid in two amounts)  are  described as  "Payment" and not " Donation".
This is not a matter of mere semantics.In these days of heightened controls on the transfer of funds, given the fear of terrorist financing, descriptions are important , even for very small sums. In this case where that large amount of money was being transferred to an individual the description becomes even more important.


Readers may also be interested in item 71A Details o Charges
 "SHA" means charges are shared and it is again curious that such a generous donor would want the recipient to share in the charges for the transfer.

Will the Bar Council ‘s proposed CBC be offered in collaboration with Australia's College Of Law’,and based on its flawed PLT?-New at Realpolitikasia

by Ganesh Sahathevan

The Malaysian legal system counts amongst its

elders the likes of Tan Sri Ahmad Ibrahim.It 

was very much tied to the UK system from the

1800s to well after Independence.Nevertheless.

Australia's College Of Law claims it identified

and cured "gaps" in Malaysian legal practice.

First see

Circular No 147/2017

Dated 11 July 2017

To Members of the Malaysian Bar

Providing Assistance to The College of Law, Australia | Development of Localised Master f Laws Programme
The Bar Council Malaysia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with The College of
Law, Australia and New Zealand in order to create further legal education and training platforms
for the benefit of Members of the Bar.

Apparently, not many members of the Malaysian Bar are even aware that this MOU exists.

The Bar Council has recused to answer any questions about the MOU or anything to do with the College Of Law:

“The Malaysian Bar believes that the emphasis of the CBC should not be primarily on examinations. 

“Rather, the CBC(Common Bar Course) should be outcome-driven and focus on, amongst others, the development of critical skills, including those relating to advocacy, legal procedure in civil as well as criminal matters, arbitration and mediation, negotiation, and managing the operations of a law firm,” said (former Bar Council President George)  Varughese:

The sentiment is good, but as explained in this article by this writer, the College of Law's basic Professional Legal Training (PLT) course has significant weaknesses that go back to at least 2006.These weaknesses remain given poor enforcement by the entity in charge of overseeing the College, the Attorney General of NSW, currently  Mark Speakman SC:

Bar Council Malaysia & College Of Law Australia on-line Masters students not protected: College does not have real presence in Malaysia,and Australian regulators including the Attorney General NSW will act to protect it from complaints made in Australia

The Bar Council's insistence on a collaboration with the College Of Law  in offering practical training courses is difficult to understand. Any number of online course providers, including some in Malaysia, have more advanced on-line tutorial systems that can be readily adapted to local requirements. Most are larger and better funded. 

END 

The Bar Council -College Of Law LLM: No physical presence raises tax, MIDA issues; Australia's Lawyers Weekly 2006 story raised issues about lack of reality in the College's basic PLT.

by Ganesh Sahathevan


As previously reported the College Of Law's lack of a physical presence in Malaysia leaves Malaysian customers of the College's "practical LLM" exposed to a number of financial risks.

That the College have a physical presence in Malaysia via a locally incorporated company seems to be a requirement of the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA) but as reported,it only has a virtual presence. MIDA does not appear to have any provision for offering courses in Malaysia on-line from a foreign base, in collaboration with a local party, in this case the Bar Council Malaysia.

The foreign base also raises tax issues;there are questions about who exactly will pay the income taxes on the revenue generated from this practical LLM venture. All this must be novel to the Bar Council which has not, to date, been a provider of degree courses.


The College Of Law Asia Pacific's Director Peter Tritt has maintained his silence. Others involved in the course include College Of Law CEO Neville Carter, Head Of PLT OnLine Anthony Jackson and the Members Of The Academic Board led by Lewis Patrick.

Meanwhile, as readers can see from the story below, even the basic PLT course had to be trimmed to a bare minimum in order for it to fit into the on-line format.

The following excerpt from the 2006 story below from Lawyers Weekly quotes then director of program development at the College of Law, Katherine Mulcahy:

The college completely redesigned to a web-based program. Sometimes things take people longer to do online, so we tried to simplify tasks,says Mulcahy. We wanted to retain the very practical nature of the training but tried to strip out all but the key steps.

One does expect the Practical Masters tobe a much more complex course. How the online system, which is not reliable even within Sydney, is going to cope catering to students from Malaysia is difficult to understand but we do hope that Mr Tritt and his colleagues will provide us answers.
END

Degrees of Practicality To differentiate themselves, practical legal training providers are focusing on theoretical catchphrases. But with training competencies now standardised, students can get a more uniform qualification than ever before. Deborah Hodgson reports Online and practical may sound like a contradiction in terms, but online practical legal training has been one of the most dramatic developments in training graduates for admission in the last decade. Online training is still a minor option for some providers, and even online students must turn up for on-campus intensive training. But as location becomes less than top priority for students choosing a practical legal training (PLT) institution, more and more competition has providers grappling with the challenge of making the classroom experience as hands on as they can, without actually putting the student in the hot seat of the law firm itself. Making it as practical as possible is the big challenge, says Katherine Mulcahy, director of program development at the College of Law, where the majority of students study online. The whole idea for the last 25 years of PLT was to simulate what happened at the workplace.Students typically followed the instructions of clients all the way through to the end of a file, interacting with other students on the other side of the matter. When the early version of online learning came in the form of CD Rom, The College of Law took the face-to-face course and simply replicated it online  students still competed against each other, albeit by email. But by 2002 the College had become aware of difficulties with the technique. The students, as students will do, sometimes got frustrated with each other, waiting on tasks that the other hadn't performed on time. It's difficult to control that in the online environment, says Mulcahy. And the sheer quantity of work for lecturers and students made it untenable. The college completely redesigned to a web-based program. Sometimes things take people longer to do online, so we tried to simplify tasks,says Mulcahy. We wanted to retain the very practical nature of the training but tried to strip out all but the key steps. Simpler is not always better The Melbourne-based Leo Cussen Institute has gone the other way, focusing more on detailed classroom-based training rather than online simplified tasks. The Institute follows the traditional interactive method, which it calls the transactional mode. Students are required to complete 31 weeks of class-based training, compared to the College's 15 weeks, and only 3 weeks of professional placement, as opposed to the College's 15. We find that works very well, says Elizabeth Loftus, executive director of Leo Cussen. We have 31 weeks on campus so we can incorporate more content. Ours is a method of constant assessment, of students running their hypothetical firm, applying their learning in a practical context under supervision. The shorter courses perhaps dont have the luxury of doing the transactional work. Time is against them. Teaching daily reflection The ANUs Legal Workshop favours the reflective practitioner� approach, developed from the teachings of the instructional theorist Donald Schon, who popularised artistry as opposed to technical knowledge in developing professional excellence. We try and duplicate the manner in which students will learn to reflect daily on how successfully they are using legal skills, how ethically they are operating, and how effectively they are getting services to clients, says Tony Foley, associate director of the Workshop. We sum it up in the phrase, better to be a guide on the side, not the sage on a stage. Legal Workshop's professional placement (a wide range of options from 20 to 80 days) is conducted parallel to an online program, where students participate in a group discussion on ethics, time management and other issues coming out of the practice experience.  Our students really like the opportunity to talk online about things that are happening in their placement, says Foley.  think the market is well served by providers that have different emphases. Other providers offer variations on the instructional theory theme. But the actual skills lawyers-to-be will graduate with should be more similar than ever. Since 2002, all PLT providers must comply with competency standards. That ensures students have lawyerly skills like problem solving and business management as well as experience in core practice areas like civil litigation and commercial law. Fashionable specialisations not always employable What students want their studies to concentrate on changes with fashion. Students often say they want to study intellectual property, or see commercial law as the preferred focus of their course. But providers try not to let that, or the preferences of law firms, affect the subjects they teach. You can't. Students might have wanted to study human rights, but the availability of jobs in that area is very limited. We have a broader obligation to the students, to get a wider range of training,says Leo Cussen's Loftus. Indeed, with the competition for clients, today�s students have growing needs for training in more than the law. �In the future they�ll need to master, in a more methodical sense, skills like management, marketing, customer service and internal communication skills,� says Loftus. �There would still be a question mark over at what point in their career they would want to tackle those skills, as they do require actually being in the practice to some extent. But in future we would at least expose them to the students during PLT.� Internship system probably a �bureaucratic nightmare� Students can be hard to please. �An internship programme run by the universities would be far more �practical�,� says one young lawyer to be in the middle of his training. But the providers are used to hearing that. �No doubt some top quality training takes place on the job in law firms,� says The College of Law�s Mulcahy. �But that can vary considerably. It�s very difficult to assure the quality of training if it is taking place in diverse workplaces.� Students can be exploited as extra labour without any emphasis on training. And, as training providers found in the United Kingdom, where students completed professional placement over two full years, the necessary systems of approval and records can prove an expensive bureaucratic nightmare for employers. �If the system is difficult for employers to administer, it won�t do. Already in Australia, Victoria in particular, there is a shortage of employers willing to take placements,� says Mulcahy. �Like any course, you will always get students saying they didn�t learn anything. But in the end, we�re preparing people for the beginning of their career. They will hopefully continue to learn.� What students get out of PLT is not all tangible either. Part of the time at training is necessary, says Leo Cussen�s Loftus, to gain perspective on the world the student is about to enter. �I would advise students during their time here to, above all, be observant. Look around you at what�s happening around you in the world. �You can�t operate with your client in a vacuum; you need to know their industry.� If PLT can offer the chance to cement that habit, so much the better. 25 May 2006

REPOST: The 1977 case of Datuk Harun Idris-Useful reference for current times

Malayan Law Journal Reports/1977/Volume 2/DATUK HAJI HARUN BIN HAJI IDRIS v PUBLICPROSECUTOR - [1977] 2 MLJ 155 - 10 June 1977

25 pages[1977] 2 MLJ 155

DATUK HAJI HARUN BIN HAJI IDRIS v PUBLIC PROSECUTOR

FC KUALA LUMPURSUFFIAN LP, ALI HAMAN AND WAN SULEIMAN FJJFEDERAL COURT CRIMINAL APPEAL NO 19 OF 197621-25, 28-31 MARCH 1977, 1-4, 6 APRIL 1977, 10 June 1977

Criminal Law and Procedure -- Transfer of case from subordinate court to High Court on certificate of Attorney-General -- Whether legal -- Whether section 418A Criminal Procedure Code ultra vires the Constitution -- Corruption -- Admission of statement to police -- Evidence of other possible offences, wrongly admitted -- Evidence of system -- Evidence Act, 1950, ss 15, 24, 29, 54 -- Criminal Procedure Code (FMS Cap 6), ss 138, 177, 417 and 418A -- Fedederal Constitution, Articles 4(1) and 8 Bribery and Corruption -- Whether accused solicited gratification -- Whether gratification was solicited corruptly -- Gratification solicited as inducement to obtain approval of application for State land -- Whether accused solicited and accepted money corruptly -- Whether accused "agent" -- Prevention of Corruption Act,1961, ss 3, 4 and 9 Constitutional Law -- Legislation giving discretion to Attorney-General to issue certificate for transfer of case from subordinate court to High Court -- Whether contrary to Federal Constitution -- Right to Equality -- Federal Constitution Articles 4(1) and 8.

This was an appeal from the decision of Raja Azlan Shah FJ. ( [1977] 1 MLJ 15).The appellant had beenconvicted on three charges of corruption, in that he as Mentri Besar of Selangor (a) solicited the sum of$250,000 for U.M.N.O. as an inducement to obtain the approval of the Executive Council in respect of anapplication for a piece of State land; (b) being a member of a public body accepted for U.M.N.O. the sum of$25,000 as inducement to obtain such approval and (c) accepted for U.M.N.O. the sum of $225,000 as aninducement to obtain such approval.The learned trial judge sentenced the appellant to one year's imprisonment in respect of the first charge and2 years' imprisonment in respect of each of the second and third charges, all the sentences to runconcurrently. He also ordered payment of the sum of $225,000 to U.M.N.O.Selangor. The appellantappealed.On appeal it was argued (a) that section 418A of the Criminal Procedure Code (under the provisions of whichthe case of the appellant had been transferred from the subordinate court to the High Court for trial) wasinconsistent with Article 8 and therefore unconstitutional and void by virtue of Article 4; (b) that the verdictwas not supported by such evidence as was admissible.

Held:

(1) section 418A of the Criminal Procedure Code is not discriminatory, as although it uses thewords "any particular case" it does not apply specifically to the particular case against theaccused. The section applies to all criminal cases triable in a subordinate court;(2) a preliminary inquiry is not a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution; if the accusedhad been tried in the Sessions Court he would not have had the use of depositions before trial;Page 1

and at the trial in the High Court he also enjoyed the chance of not being called upon for hisdefence at the close of the case for the prosecution. By being tried in the High Court he did notrun the risk of greater penalty, for if he had been tried in the Sessions Court he would havebeen liable to the full penalty prescribed by law. In any event the trial in the High Court followedthe same rules of procedure and evidence as would have been followed in the Sessions Courtand so there was no question of the accused being denied a fair and impartial trial. Theaccused also had a right of appeal and a provision for appeal, it has been held in the Indiancases, may cure any defect in the law;(3) even if (contrary to the view of the court) the law may be regarded as discriminatory, there wasreasonable classification in it, there was a nexus between it and the object of the law and therewas a principle or policy in it to guide the Attorney-General in the exercise of his discretionunder section 418A. The Attorney-General when acting under the section 418A will beexpected to transfer to the High Court only cases of unusual difficulty or of unusual importance.Sections 417 and 418A of the Criminal Procedure Code are vehicles for the Attorney-Generalto exercise his power under Article 145(3) of the Federal Constitution and it is for him to judgewhich case is difficult or important enough to be given an early trial after a transfer to the HighCourt under section 418A;(4) it is obvious that the scheme of the amendments to sections 138, 417 and 418A is to expediatetrials, and there is an obvious classification, a classification clearly connected with theunderlying principle of administration of justice that an alleged criminal should be placed on trialas soon as possible after the commission of the crime as the circumstances of the case wouldpermit and this classification cannot be regarded as unreasonable and not having a nexus withthe object of the amendments, namely speedy trial;(5) the statement made by the appellant to the officer of the National Bureau of Investigation wasadmissible by virtue of section 15(1) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1961 , and also byvirtue of section 29 of the Evidence Act which provides that if a confession is otherwiseadmissible, that is, if the court is satisfied that it is made voluntarily, it does not becomeinadmissible simply because it was made in answer to questions which he need not haveanswered whatever may have been the form of those questions;(6) evidence relating to cheques paid by the appellant out of the U.M.N.O. Special Fund to hispersonal account was wrongly admitted and should not have been used to discredit theaccused, but in this case there was, apart from that evidence, enough evidence to support thefinding of guilt;(7) evidence of the receipt of other donations received by the appellant was rightly admitted inevidence to rebut the defence that a voluntary and honest donation had been given in thiscase;(8) there was enough evidence to support the conviction as the evidence showed that theappellant did solicit the $250,000 corrupty from the bank as an inducement for the ExecutiveCouncil to approve the bank's application and that he did accept the two sums corruptly;

1977 2 MLJ 155 at 156 

(9) in the circumstances of the case the appellant was an agent within the meaning of section 4(a)of the Prevention of Corruption Act and he was correctly charged on the alternative charges.However in the circumstances it would not be proper or expedient to order the appellant to beconvicted under that section also;(10) the penalty ordered by the learned trial judge should have been ordered to be paid to theFederal Government.

REPOST:Hint of kick-backs in Malaysian Sukhoi jet deal courtesy Rosoboronexport's Deputy General Director Sergei Chemezov

Hint of kick-backs in Malaysian Sukhoi jet deal courtesy Rosoboronexport's Deputy General Director Sergei Chemezov 

According to a TASS News Agency report:

Russia is expected to receive U.S. $900 million from the sale of 18 Sukhoi-30MKM fighter jets to Malaysia, under an agreement signed Tuesday within the framework of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Kuala Lumpur, ITAR-TASS reported quoting Russia's state arms exporting agency Rosoboronexport's Deputy General Director Sergei Chemezov.
Malaysia will pay for the jets in cash, Chemezov said dismissing reports that part of the contract might be paid in kind.
"No palm oil, the entire sum will be paid in foreign exchange, that is U.S. dollars," Chemezov said.
Although Malaysian law envisages that a certain portion of cash received under such a contract is to be used for purchase of Malaysian-made goods, some unspecified Malaysian companies has proposed that the quota be given to them thus enabling Russia to receive the whole sum, Chemezov said.
"I hope the issue will be decided in a positive way," Chemezov said.
[Source:Russia to supply $900-mln worth fighter jets to Malaysia.
6 August 2003,06:43,Prime-TASS News (Russia)]

Other TASS News reports have stated that Russia will earn a profit of USD 900 million on the deal.

... contract for the delivery of 18 Russian-made Su-30MKM jet fighters to Malaysia was signed in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Malaysian Prime Minister Mohathir bin Mohamad in the city of Putrajaya on Tuesday. Russia will receive a net profit of 900 million dollars under the contract, according to first deputy director-general of Rosoboronexport arms trading company Sergei Chemezov.

(Source:Itar-Tass news digest of August 5 - 4. 6 August 2003
ITAR-TASS World Service

Posted 2nd October 2007 by Anonymous

Bar Council Malaysia & College Of Law Australia on-line Masters students not protected: College does not have real presence in Malaysia,and Australian regulators including the Attorney General NSW will act to protect it from complaints made in Australia

by Ganesh Sahathevan




Stephanie Booker, another (College Of Law )  PLT student, questioned whether ‘practical legal training’ is an accurate term. “[My course] certainly taught me where to look for things that I may need — rules, areas of law... As for helping me to apply these rules, there is a huge difference between the reality of my workplace and the comfort of my PLT course. For example, I find that the way I draft letters for [my course] is not acceptable in my workplace, and vice versa.”
(from  Malaysian Bar Council "menu" candidate Roger Chan continues to stonewall queries about his promotion of an Australian "Practical Masters", despite obvious problems)


The mystery surrounding the  Bar Council & College Of Law Australia's Master of Laws (Applied Law) in Malaysian Legal Practice grows.The link  at the course website

https://www.collaw.com/about/our-partners/bar-council-malaysia  for the  course no longer works.Readers can see for themselves by clicking the links The Master of Laws (Applied Law) in Malaysian Legal Practice " and "Find out more about our Malaysian LLM programme" located in this paragraph:

MASTER OF LAWS (APPLIED LAW) IN MALAYSIAN LEGAL PRACTICE

The Master of Laws (Applied Law) in Malaysian Legal Practice is designed to meet the needs of the Malaysian legal profession for higher level, practice-based skills acquisition across a range of specialised practice areas. It has been developed by The College of Law in collaboration with Bar Council Malaysia. Find out more about our Malaysian LLM programme.

Consequently it is hard to say if YA Daryl Goon still endorses the course,which does not appear to have the approval of the Legal Profession Qualifying Board (see story below).

Meanwhile, a new website has emerged at this link:
https://www.collaw.com/learnwithus/our-programs/postgraduate-applied-law-programmes/llm-malaysia

A course handbook can be downloaded at the link Download the Malaysian LLM Handbook. YA Goon's name is no longer  listed among the experts who have contributed to the course.

All of the above raises the question:Who can Malaysian lawyers sue if they are not happy with the course? Fees are estimated to be around RM 10,000 per subject,so this will not be a cheap exercise.Total cost are likely to be in RM80,000-RM 100,000 range.

Course delivery is entirely on-line, and this writer can tell from personal experience that the College's IT systems are prone to failure. Complaints are not welcome and in this writer's experience are regarded as a form of harassment,threat and intimidation.

The College is supervised by the Legal Profession Admission Board  (LPAB) which ultimately reports to the Attorney General New South Wales, Mark Speakman SC.

This writer's investigation into the College's business which was prompted by his own experience with poor teaching and infrastructure in the College's local on-line Professional Legal Training program which is compulsory for all lawyers seeking admission in New South Wales,has met with a hostile reception from the LPAB and Speakman. 

The investigation into the business of the College as it expands into Malaysia has been met with official findings of misconduct, in this writer's  work as a journalist.

The LPAB and AG's findings of misconduct include a finding that this writer's referral of queries to then  Attorney General Malaysia  with regards its business in Malaysia are  grounds for a finding that this writer is not fit and proper for admission to practice. 

They have also placed reliance on this story from  RPK's Malaysia-Today, as proof that this writer has been involved in criminal activity,and that too under a USD 1 Million contract with current PM Tun Mahathir:

Ganesh Sahathevan, RPK, Clare Brown, Ginny Stein And The Blood Money Trail

The College's basic Practical Legal Training course from which its teaching methods for all its other courses are derived, has been found to be not very useful in practice, as reported in the Australian industry paper Lawyers Weekly in 2006. The College's PLT includes work experience at  a law firm,after which students are required to submit a journal of their work experience and explain how what was learnt at  the College was applied at work. This writer's report that the College's lessons were of no use at work was rejected and in correspondence with this writer the College's  Chair  Of Academic Studies, Lewis Patrick  said:

Please note that in assessing your work experience journal the College is not assessing the quality of your work experience, but rather the quality of your reflections on that experience. 

Malaysian lawyers can determine for themselves if this is the standard by which they would like their practical experience to be judged,in a course with the emphasis on the practical.

In Kuala Lumpur the College operates out of a virtual office and all queries sent the College Of Law Asia (or College Of Law Asia Pacific) Director Peter Tritt,  have been ignored.

The queries included claims by the College that it had in 1985 or thereabouts, under contract with the MARA Law School, produced the inaugural Legal Practice Handbook with instructional details, materials and resources for Malaysian law and practice. A query was sent the Registrar Federal Court Malaysia, requesting a copy.The  Registrar has responded via her Chief Librarian who says:

Please be informed on the revision of the Web OPAC System in Palace of Justice Library, the material is not in our collection.

I have also referred to the librarians network at 12 Law Libraries in Malaysia as well as the National Library of Malaysia. However, it is regretted that the material is not in their possession.

The issues above add to the normal  issues of cost and inconvenience of suing is foreign jurisdiction. Unsatisfied College customers from Malaysia would be obviously better off suing the College in Malaysia, but as mentioned above, they will find nothing to which they can attach judgement.

It is up to the Bar Council Malaysia and the Minister For Education to insist that the College have a physical presence in Malaysia, just like all other Australian colleges and universities offering courses in Malaysia. Their physical presence in Malaysia provides provides a limited assurance that they will provide what they promise.

Additionally,as reported on this blog the tertiary education standards regulatory board,TEQSA, cannot be relied on to ensure standards are maintained: 

Australia's education sector putting money ahead of standards :The trend continues, aided and abetted by TEQSA

END 

Saturday, Augus8, 2018

YA Daryl Goon , the Malaysian Applied Law LLM ,and YAA Richard Malanjum

by Ganesh Sahathevan

MASTER OF LAWS (APPLIED LAW) IN MALAYSIAN LEGAL PRACTICE

This writer has spent much time this week, and the last praying that the newly appointed Yang Ariff Daryl Goon might condescend to explain why he has has endorsed something called the Master of Laws (Applied Law) in Malaysian Legal Practice.

Goon has been asked to explain given the fact that this LLM (and indeed no others) have been approved by the Legal Profession Qualifying Board..

The Malaysian Bar Council seems to have played some part in promoting the course (see below) but its President and Secretary have refused numerous requests  for information about what

approvals if any the Malaysian Bar Council had obtained to promote the course in Malaysia.

The course website , hosted by the private college in Australia that manages the course (with a faculty of one person) shows prominently the Bar Council's logo. YA Daryl Goon is listed among its advisers. 

The private college also claims that it produced in 1985-86 the first group of "elite" law graduates from MARA who were admitted to practice in Malaysia. This does come as a bit of surprise to this writer and others like him who know and know of Malaysian lawyers who graduated from MARA in the 1970s. In the latter category (for I do not know him personally) is the current Chief Justice , YAA Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, who graduated in 1973.

One hopes that the newly minted YA will at least  have an explanation for his YAA. 

END

The questions (see below) remain despite this promotion by the Bar Council Malaysia:

e

Circular No 147/2017

Dated 11 July 2017n 

To Members of the Malaysian Bar

Providing Assistance to The College of Law, Australia | Development of Localised Master

of Laws Programme

The Bar Council Malaysia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with The College of

Law, Australia and New Zealand in order to create further legal education and training platforms

for the benefit of Members of the Bar.

In this regard, The College of Law is interested to localise the content of its existing Australian

Master of Laws (“LLM”) in Applied Law programme for Malaysia, and is interested in working

with Members of the Bar who have relevant legal research and writing, and practical legal

experience. This is to be carried out on a project basis, and the Members will be remunerated.

The first six subjects in this new LLM programme are near completion and will be offered in

September 2017 as part of a new LLM (Applied Law) with a major in Malaysian Legal Practice.

The next 11 LLM subjects that The College of Law is interested in localising are listed below:

(1)

Advocacy;

(2)

Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice;

(3)

Arbitration.

(4)

Banking and Finance;

(5)

Family Law Practice;

(6)

Intellectual Property Practice;

(7)

Islamic Banking and Finance;

(8)

Mediation;

(9)

Mergers and Acquisitions Practice;

(10) Negotiation; and

(11) Wills, Estates and Trusts.

If you are interested in pursuing this opportunity, please send your expression of interest together

with your detailed resume and any queries, directly to:

Peter Tritt

Director | Asia-Pacific

The College of Law Australia and New Zealand

Level 23, Nu Tower 2

Jalan Tun Sambanthan,

50470 Kuala Lumpur

Email: ptritt@collaw.edu.au

Mobile: +6013 305 7660

Thank you.

Roger Chan Weng Keng

Secretary

Malaysian Bar