The Federal Court is set to decide tomorrow on whether public authorities can sue individuals for defamation when ruling on Kuching MP Chong Chieng Jen's appeal in his case against the Sarawak government.

A five-member bench, led by then-chief judge of Malaya Ahmad Ma'arop first heard Chong's appeal on May 15, last year. It also comprised Federal Court judges Hasan Lah, Abu Samah Nordin, Azahar Mohamed and Aziah Ali. 

Chong's lawyer, Ranjit Singh, confirmed tomorrow's delivery of the judgment to Malaysiakini.

The DAP lawmaker was sued by the Sarawak government over a press statement he issued which was carried by several news portals. 

Although Chong won at the Kuching High Court, the Court of Appeal subsequently reversed the decision and ruled that the Sarawak government could sue for defamation.

Justice Abdul Rahman Sebli, who wrote the majority judgment, had ruled that Section 3 of the Government Proceedings Act 1956 gives the government the same right as a private individual to enforce a claim against another individual by way of civil action, adding that this is a statutory and not a common law right.

The minority judgment by Justice David Wong Dak Wah, however, stated that public authorities cannot sue individuals, as it can resort to criminal defamation law in the Penal Code, the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 and the Sedition Act 1948 to defend itself from defamatory statements.

According to the common law Derbyshire principle, public authorities cannot bring actions for defamation.

The principle was enforced by the Court of Appeal when striking out suits by former Pahang menteri besar Adnan Yaakob and former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng against the media.

Lim's case is still pending before the Federal Court. The decision in Chong's case tomorrow is expected to set precedent.

In appealing against the appellate court's decision, Chong had posed three questions of law before the apex court 2016, namely:

  • Whether the Government Proceedings Act 1956, in particular Section 3, prevents the principle in the Derbyshire County Council v Times Newspaper Ltd & Ors landmark case to be applied to the Sarawak state government;
  • Whether Section 3(1)(c) of the Civil Law Act prevents the principle in the Derbyshire case to be extended to the Sarawak state government.
  • Whether a party who had entered various defences would be deemed to have abandoned all their other defences after making an application on parts of their defence under Order 14A of the Rules of Court (ROC) 2012.