by GK Ganesan October 2, 2019
Blog , Constitutional Law , English , For Lawyers , Government , Home Featured Articles , Politics

Can the courts stop a prime minister from suspending Parliament? [Part-1: Johnson prorogues Parliament]

They can – as did the UK Supreme Court on 24 Sept 2019. The Court ruled that the PM Johnson’s advice to the Queen to suspend (‘prorogue’) Parliament had been unlawful. The Court declared that Parliament could resume its work. This case is historic. The effect of this case will be felt for centuries. Why? Read on ...

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by GK Ganesan August 7, 2018
Blog , English , For Lawyers

On the horns of a dilemma – will the Federal Court judges recuse themselves?

An unusual thing happened at the Federal Court on August 6, 2018.  There is a history to this.  You know it well. It concerns a company called 1MDB and the ex-PM Najib Razak. On March 23, 2016, Mahathir sued the then PM Najib Razak for ‘misfeasance in public office’. The High Court struck out the suit. The judge ruled that a prime minister was not a ‘public officer.  The Court of ...

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by GK Ganesan August 3, 2018
Blog , Constitutional Law , English , Government , Politics

Why are we mollycoddling our public figures?

Why are we mollycoddling our public figures? There is a weapon far deadlier than a nuclear bomb. Words are the most powerful weapons in all the world.  So much so that a cautionary note penned in 1885 reads: - ‘Every word is endowed with a spirit … One word may be likened unto fire, another unto light, and the influence which both exert is manifest in the world.’ It has been said that a ...

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by GK Ganesan July 31, 2018
Blog , Constitutional Law , English , Government , Politics

Who said the Prime Minister is not a public officer?

Who said the Prime Minister is not a public officer? Two separate panels of the Court of Appeal did. One panel heard Mahathir’s appeal.  It delivered its decision in April of this year. The second panel of the Court of Appeal heard Tony Pua’s appeal and delivered its decision last week. Both Mahathir and Tony Pua had sued the then Prime Minister Najib for the tort of public misfeasance. Both lost. When they ...

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