The Malaysian Bar will appeal a High Court ruling preventing it from seeking a judicial review against the attorney-general's decision to not prosecute Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak on 1MDB related matters.

"This is a significant case, because it deals with the ambit of the prosecutorial powers of the attorney-general as public prosecutor, and the independence of a statutorily incorporated investigating body such as the MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission).

"The case also concerns the cardinal principle that no instrumentality of government is above the law in a system founded on the rule of law," Bar Council president Steven Thiru said in a statement last night.