College Of Law Australia's directive to Malaysian advisers may have implications under Malaysia's laws- College Of Law offered LLM degrees in Malaysia without approval from Malaysian authorities, and despite not being among law schools certified by the Australian Law Schools Standards Committee

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

                             The College Of Law's misconduct in Malaysia is a matter of public record

It has been previously reported that College Of Law Australia's CEO Neville Carter informed this writer in 2019 that he had instructed his staff to not provide answers to any queries from this writer . The queries concerned the College's business and Carter's claims about his contribution to Malaysian legal practise.

The College's advisers Dhinesh Bhaskaran and Tat Chung Wong are subject to Malaysian laws,and their seeming obedience to Carter's directive may have consequences for all concerned under Malaysian law, with regards the College's misconduct in offering LLM degrees in Malaysia without approval from Malaysian authorities, and despite not being among law schools certified by the Australian Law Schools Standards Committee.

If nothing else, being officers of the court Bhaskaran and  Wong do have obligations to report the College's misconduct to their Chief Justice and the relevant Malaysian authorities. Being part of a scheme to conceal information from their Chief Justice and Malaysian authorities is likely to invite investigation from all relevant authorities, to begin with. 

TOE BE READ WITH 

Wednesday, June 12, 2024

Bar Council Malaysia working with College Of Law Australia promised its members "internationally recognised" law qualifications - College Of Law Sydney not among law schools certified by the Australian Law Schools Standards Committee

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

 An extract from the Bar Council Malaysia's 2017/18 Annual Report: 

However,  College Of Law Australia, based in  Sydney,is not among law schools certified by the Australian Law Schools Standards Committee. The College's CEO Neville Carter has ordered his staff to not entertain queries from this writer, which go back to 2018, and concern the College's conduct in Malaysia.

TO BE READ WITH 

Saturday, January 23, 2021

College Of Law Sydney's LLM degrees offered in Malaysia, Singapore, ASEAN not recognised even in Australia: College Of Law Sydney not among law schools certified by the Australian Law Schools Standards Committee

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

                                                            https://www.collaw.com/our-people

Readers will recall that Sydney's College Of Law has begun offering a range of LLMs, or Masters Of Law courses in Malaysia, Singapore and the rest of ASEAN on the strength of its standing in Australia, and its contribution to legal practise in Malaysia going back to the 80s. As New Malaysia Times has reported, the College's past and recent business in Malaysia is shrouded in mystery. Silence on the part of the College's advisers in Malaysia, Dinesh Bashkaran of Shearn & Wong Tat Chung of Wong Beng Toh, who are senior members of the Malaysian Bar , has only deepened the mystery. 

Now it has been discovered that the College Of Law Sydney, and thus the LLM courses it offers,are not certified by even the Council Of Australian Law Deans and its   Australian Law Schools Standards Committee.

The Australian Law Schools Standards Committee (ALSSC) is established under Standard 12 of the Australian Law School Standards. The ALSSC’s functions are to:

• consider and determine applications from law schools for certification as compliant with the Standards; and
•  keep the Standards under review and to propose to CALD amendments from time to time.

The ALSSC is comprised of eight committee members from both within and outside the law school sector.

A list of the Australian Law Schools that are certified as at 9 March 2020 is available here.

https://cald.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Certified-Law-Schools-as-at-9-Mar-2020.pdf               

Readers can see for themselves from the PDF link above that the College Of Law Sydney is not among those listed as being certified by the CALD.

END 

ICAC's John Hatzistergos seems reluctant to investigate the fishy smell surrounding Top Education Group and the NSW LPAB- Meanwhile, students, potential students will pay the price

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

Top Education Group Ltd is  advertising for potential students to enrol for its  next intake into its Sydney City School Of Law in Aug 2024.  However, Top's accreditation  to issue LLB's expiries in June 2024. 

Neither Top nor the NSW LPAB have said anything about re-accreditation. The NSW LPAB has maintained its silence despite Top's advertisement, which is based on its NSW LPAB accreditation:

 Applications open for 2024 enquire today

Our program is meticulously crafted to empower students with not just legal knowledge, but also the intellectual, critical, and professional skills essential for thriving in the ever-evolving legal landscape and beyond. Upon successful completion, students can enrol in another institution for the Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, and after successful completion may apply to the Legal Profession Admission Board for admission as legal practitioners. 

The NSW LPAB has a record of covering-up for the managers of the institutions it is meant to regulate, regardless of student welfare. Its accreditation and re-accreditation in 2019 of Top's  Sydney City School Of  Law, despite the scandal surrounding Top, its late founder Zhu Minshen, and despite the fact that accreditation of law schools had been hitherto limited to Australia's top universities, all  add to what China analyst Clive Hamilton has referred to as as the "fishy smell around Zhu Minshen's Top Education Institute".

Despite that record, the NSW ICAC , even under new chairman  John Hatzistergos, seems reluctant to investigate the LPAB's Board, its executives,and other employees.  

TO BE READ WITH 

Wednesday, November 29, 2023

NSW ICAC chief John Hatzistergos wants reforms to corruption laws, cites Chinese Friends of Labor, Sam Dastyari matters but will Hatzistergos ignore the matter of the NSW LPAB's dealings with CCP linked Zhu Minshen and his Top Group, like his predecessor and fellow judge of the NSW Sup Crt Peter Hall despite the evidence

 by Ganesh Sahathevan

The Daily Telegraph quoting former NSW Supreme Court judge, NSW Labor Attorney General ,and current Chief Commissioner of the NSW ICAC John Hatzistergos  has reported: 

A former NSW Labor attorney-general says political parties are circumventing NSW’s strict rules on donations by funnelling prohibited cash through federal campaign accounts.

Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) chief commissioner John Hatzistergos has called for uniform donation rules across the country to avoid parties skirting the rules, a practice that was highlighted during a 2019 inquiry into NSW Labor banking Aldi bags full of cash from a prohibited Chinese donor.

He noted that in evidence to ICAC’s investigation into the Chinese Friends of Labor fundraising dinners, former NSW Labor secretary Sam Dastyari said donations banned at a state level could be banked in federal accounts.

However, he said politicians could also be improperly influenced without any money changing hands.

“They (politicians) have to use their position in the public interest and we make that point clearly to them all the time,” he said. “It’s not their electoral interests, it’s not the interests of their friends or their donors or anyone else.” Mr Hatzistergos also reiterated ICAC’s call for political parties to be subject to certain “governance” standards in order to get funding for administrative purposes.(Time to close loophole on political donations
EXCLUSIVE JAMES O’DOHERTY STATE POLITICAL EDITOR,21 November 2023
Daily Telegraph)

It is left to be seen if Hatzistergos will pursue or ignore the matter of the NSW LPAB's  dealings with the Communist Party China linked  donor Zhu Minshen and his Top Group.Readers will recall that his predecessor and fellow judge of the NSW Supreme Court  Peter Hall refused to do so despite the evidence before him.

TOE BE READ WITH 

Thursday, December 22, 2022

Amen Lee, ICAC witness, is now chairman of Top Education Group Ltd, licensed by the NSW LPAB to grant law degrees in NSW

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

Amen Lee, ICAC witness, is now chairman of Top Education Group Ltd, which is licensed by the NSW LPAB to grant law degrees in NSW.

TO BE READ WITH

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Amen Lee is part of Top Education Group's Controlling Shareholder Group: Fresh questions for NSW LPAB,AG Speakman ,and NSW Libs over issuance of Top's LLB license and political donations ; Peter Hall's position at ICAC increasingly untenable

by Ganesh Sahathevan

In his current inquiry into Chinese donations to the Labor Party ,ICAC Commissioner Peter
Hall QC(picture above) seems reluctant to go anywhere near the matter of Zhu Minshen and his Top Group,whose
donations to the NSW Liberal Party may have consequences for Hall's former colleagues at the NSW Bar and Bench who manage the Legal Profession Admission Board, the body that has provided Zhu the status of a law school vice chancellor.


While Liberal Party donor Zhu Minshen has been, this far, the focus of attention with regards Top Education Group and its license to issue LLB degrees, f Dr Amen Lee, former Executive Chairman of the Australia China Trade, Economic and Cultural Association's (ACETCA), appears to have had an equal even if less prominent role in the matter.

In August this year Amen Lee told ICAC:

"If I do attend these (fundraising) events they are paid for by Top Education or ACETCA. I have not and would not attend as an individual," Dr Lee said. Top Education is a company of which Dr Lee said he was a director and shareholder.

Top's 2019 Annual Report includes these disclosures: 

 The Company made history as it founded the very first Law School within a private higher education institute when both TEQSA and NSW LPAB officially accredited its degree program in Law.

Members of the Controlling Shareholders Group are parties acting in concert and on 13 October 2017, they entered into a confirmation deed to, among others, confirm that they have been acting together with an aim to achieving decisions at general meetings of the Company on a unanimous basis. Members of the Controlling Shareholders Group are the founding Shareholders or have invested in the Company at an early stage. Dr. Zhu and Mr. (Amen) Lee are the members of the Controlling Shareholders Group. As at 30 June 2019, all the members of the Controlling Shareholders Group together controlled 855,468,000 Shares. Under the SFO, each of Dr. Zhu and Mr. Lee is deemed to be interested in the Shares beneficially owned by the other members of the Controlling Shareholders Group.

As at 30 June 2019 Zhu controlled 38.16% of Top's shares, while  Amen Lee controlled 33.46%. 

https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2019/1028/ltn20191028147.pdf

The above suggests that there is some overlap between Top Group and ACETCA.
All of the above raises many questions as to who else supported Top's introduction into state and federal political ,and legal circles.

The LPAB and the AG Mark Speakman have refused to answer any questions about the license issued Top Group. In addition ICAC chairman Peter Hall has refused to call Minshen Zhu as a witness to the ongoing inquiry into Chinese political donations, despite Amen Lee's testimony. Hall would be required to call Zhu, and those responsible within the LPAB, which is chaired by the Chief Justice of NSW Tom Bathurst, and overseen by the AG, MArk Speakman. 

Hall's position is as chairman of the ongoing inquiry and of ICAC seems increasingly untenable. He should resign.

END 

The Federation Of Malaya was formed by agreement between Queen Elizabeth The Second and the Rulers of the Malay States; there is nothing in Malaysia's Constitution that prevents any of them from withdrawing their state from the Federation - Johor Regent's claim cannot be dismissed as being unconstitutional, the Sultan Of Johor can withdraw from the Federation

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

              It is clear that these two are not friends,but Mahathir's warning is not without basis

The Federation of Malaya, and its successor, the Federation of Malaysia,  was born as a result of an Act of the UK Parliament, the   Federation of Malaya Independence Act 1957.

Paragraph 1(1)  of that Act states, amongst other things, that  the Federation is formed as a result of the agreement " between Her Majesty and the Rulers of the Malay States".

There is nothing in that Act or in  Malaysia's Constitution that limits the powers of the Malays Rulers such that the Rulers would not have the power to withdraw from the Federation. It appears that Tun Mahathir understands the problem, when he warns that the Regent Of Johor, Tengku Ismail's demand to be treated as a partner rather than subordinate to the Federation would cause the Federation to "crumble". 

Tun Mahathir,  it is noted, does not dismiss the Johor Regent's demands as being fanciful and unconstitutional, as some have.

END 

Federation of Malaya Independence Act 1957

You are here:

• UK Public General Acts
• 1957 c. 60 (Regnal. 5_and_6_Eliz_2)
• Section 1

1. Provision for establishment of the Federation as an independent sovereign country.

(1)Subject to the provisions of this section, the approval of Parliament is hereby given to the conclusion between Her Majesty and the Rulers of the Malay States of such agreement as appears to Her Majesty to be expedient for the establishment of the Federation of Malaya as an independent sovereign country within the Commonwealth.

(2)Any such agreement as aforesaid may make provision—

(a)for the formation of the Malay States and of the Settlements of Penang and Malacca into a new independent Federation of States under a Federal Constitution specified in the agreement and for the application to those Settlements, as States of the new Federation, of State Constitutions so specified;

(b)for the termination of Her Majesty’s sovereignty and jurisdiction in respect of the said Settlements, and of all other Her power and jurisdiction in and in respect of the Malay States or the Federation as a whole, and the revocation or modification of all or any of the provisions of the Federation of Malaya Agreement, 1948, and of any other agreements in force between Her Majesty and the Rulers of the Malay States.

(3)Any such agreement shall be conditional upon the approval of the new Federal Constitution by enactments of the existing Federal Legislature and of each of the Malay States; and upon such approval being given Her Majesty by Order in Council may direct that the said Federal and State Constitutions shall have the force of law within the said Settlements, and, so far as She has jurisdiction in that behalf, elsewhere within the Federation, and may make such other provision as appears to Her to be necessary for giving effect to the agreement.

(4)Any Order in Council under this section shall be laid before Parliament after being made.

(5)In this Act “the appointed day” means such day as may be specified by Order in Council under this section as the day from which the said Federal Constitution has the force of law as aforesaid.


Modifications etc. (not altering text)


C131.8.1957 specified under s. 1(5) by S.I. 1957/1533 (1957 I, p. 832), art. 2

Malaysian magistrate says being disrespectful of Malaysia's royalty is to be defamatory, words that "could tarnish" a person's reputation are sufficient to make a finding of criminal defamation-Malaysian decision in favour of Sultanah Of Terengganu turns curiouser and curiouser

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

DYMM Sultan Terengganu dan KDYMM Sultanah

The problematic decision  handed down by the Kuala Terengganu Magistrates’ in favour of the Sultanah Of Terengganu has become, to quote Lewis Carroll in Alice In Wonderland, curiouser and curiouser. Malaysia's national paper of the record, the government controlled Newt Straits Times has reported that Magistrate Nik Mohd Tarmizie Nik Mohd Shukri's reasons for decisions include the following statement which implies that  criminal defamation can be founded even when there is a possibility that a phrase "could tarnish" a persons reputation: 

 After considering the testimonies provided by the prosecution witnesses, the court is convinced that the slanderous remarks directed at the Sultanah of Terengganu constitute defamation that could tarnish her reputation and good name.

The NST also reported that the complainant need not be the direct subject of the phrase for the Magistrate also stated:

“The slanderous remarks directly implicated the involvement of the Sultanah of Terengganu with fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low, who is suspected of being involved in the 1MDB scandal. “This indirectly tarnishes the reputation of the Sultanah of Terengganu in the country’s largest scandal,”

Worryingly, the Magistrate has equated being "disrespectful" with being defamatory for the NST has reported that the Magistrate had found Rewcastle-Brown had been " disrespectful of the country’s royal institution."

The Magistrate maintains this  false finding:

 The specific defamatory content, highlighted on page three, paragraph four, and line seven, was the phrase “the wife of the Sultan,” which was deemed as a deliberate act aimed at tarnishing the reputation of Sultanah Nur Zahirah. Rewcastle-Brown was charged with committing the offence at 8am on Sept 14, 2018, at Lot 60048, Taman Chendering Utama here.

Rewcastle-Brown was never in Terengganu, let alone at the address mentioned. It appears that the false finding is necessary in order to bring the matter within the Terengganu court's jurisdiction. 

REFERENCE 

‘EDITOR’S BOOK DISRESPECTED SULTANAH’
Rahmat Khairulrijal

5 June 2024
New Straits Times



RAHMAT KHAIRULRIJAL rahmat@nst.com.my 

KUALA LUMPUR:

SARAWAK Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown’s defamatory statements about the Sultanah of Terengganu, Sultanah Nur Zahirah, in her book about the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal, were disrespectful of the country’s royal institution. Terengganu magistrate Nik Mohd Tarmizie Nik Mohd Shukri said Rewcastle-Brown’s action created a negative perception of Sultanah Nur Zahirah and damaged her good name and reputation. He said this in his judgment when sentencing the 65-year-old editor to two years’ imprisonment after finding her guilty of defaming Sultanah Nur Zahirah in her book, The Sarawak Report — The Inside Story of the 1MDB Exposé. “After considering the testimonies provided by the prosecution witnesses, the court is convinced that the slanderous remarks directed at the Sultanah of Terengganu constitute defamation that could tarnish her reputation and good name.

“The slanderous remarks directly implicated the involvement of the Sultanah of Terengganu with fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low, who is suspected of being involved in the 1MDB scandal. “This indirectly tarnishes the reputation of the Sultanah of Terengganu in the country’s largest scandal,” he said in the judgment dated June 2. He said the royal institution holds a special and highest position in the constitution and was highly regarded by the people. “As the trial was conducted in absentia under Section 425A of the Criminal Procedure Code, the court has no alternative, and thus finds the accused guilty and convicts her under Section 500 of the Penal Code from the date of conviction (Feb 7).” 

He said the defendant’s failure to respect the Malaysian legal system by choosing to waive her right to attend the trial was also taken into consideration by the court in imposing the maximum sentence. According to the charge, Rewcastle-Brown, who has a London address in the United Kingdom, wrote the book which contained allegations against the Sultanah of Terengganu. The specific defamatory content, highlighted on page three, paragraph four, and line seven, was the phrase “the wife of the Sultan,” which was deemed as a deliberate act aimed at tarnishing the reputation of Sultanah Nur Zahirah. Rewcastle-Brown was charged with committing the offence at 8am on Sept 14, 2018, at Lot 60048, Taman Chendering Utama here.

( END )

New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad

Document NSTRAT0020240605ek650000f

Why should not Malaysia and Thailand rebuild the ancient Indian empire trade route from Penang to Yala, and from there to Thailand's East Coast, near the Malaysia Thai border?

 by Ganesh Sahathevan

The  Bujang Valley archelogical site  is by all accounts a site of some historical significance, but  which has yet to be properly surveyed. The process can be difficult but analysis of satellite imagery of the terrain at and around the site can provide useful information.

The first picture below is a Google map view of Northern Malaysia onto which a terrain image has been superimposed. The second image is a magnification of the terrain image in which elevation (height) has been exaggerated to enhance features that may otherwise remain hidden.
The colour scheme is arranged such that higher elevations are more brightly coloured, and the plains mostly blue.
The Valley is located to the south the peak at the top left corner of the "blue box" in the Google Map image, and in the terrain image below that. The images may be magnified by clicking on them.
Penang island is located at the bottom left corner of the blue box.

Bujang Valley Terrain Model

Using gravity data the pathways between the East and West coast of the peninsular from the Bujang Valley are clearer. A path from Penang to Sungai Patani ,and then to Yala, navigating a narrow strip of higher ground, seems evident.This path is likely a riverbed, which has since been concealed by vegetation. 

These are said to ancient trade routes, but why should not Malaysia and Thailand rebuild the ancient Indian empire trade route from Penang to Yala, and from there to Thailand's East Coast, near the Malaysia Thai border? That seems more viable than cutting Thailand in half to create the Kra Isthmus canal. 

END 
 

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