M'sian Bar: Shafee had no reputation loss to justify RM2m damages

Summary

• Malaysian Bar contends that veteran lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah suffered no reputational damage to warrant RM2 million in damages.

• The counsel is seeking the amount from the legal profession body over a 2015 motion to discuss his conduct following then-opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s Sodomy 2 case.

Veteran counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah suffered no reputational damage to justify him seeking RM2 million in damages from the Malaysian Bar, the Kuala Lumpur High Court heard.

The legal profession body’s counsel Andrew Chiew today submitted that the lawyer was involved in a large number of high-profile court cases.

The Bar is rebutting Shafee’s suit over its 2015 annual general meeting (AGM) that saw an attempt to table a motion to discuss his conduct, following then-opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s Sodomy 2 case.

The motion pertained to Shafee’s conduct as the ad hoc deputy public prosecutor in Anwar’s sodomy appeal in the Federal Court, which alleged that the lawyer violated the legal profession’s rules which prohibited lawyers from publicising themselves.

The motion also claimed Shafee (above) attended nationwide roadshows to insult a convicted prisoner and to bring attention to his role in Anwar’s conviction.

“That evidence (of alleged reputational damage affecting income) was never proffered and when there is no such evidence, it cannot be used to augment a global sum of RM2 million.

“The plaintiff (Shafee) engaged with a lot of prominent matters and showed his time engaged in other matters too, hence important for the plaintiff to produce cogent evidence and not just pluck a figure (of RM2 million damages),” Chiew told judge Ahmad Shahrir Mohd Salleh.

The civil court judge was hearing an assessment of damages to be awarded to Shafee concerning the suit, which he previously won on appeal at the Federal Court.

In response today, Shafee counter-submitted that he has provided sufficient testimony in past court proceedings to back his assertion of reputational damage from the 2015 incident.

The veteran counsel pointed out that he already got a doctor’s diagnosis that he suffered a heart condition due to pressure from the 2015 incident.

Shahrir then set April 14 for a decision on the compensation to be paid to Shafee.

Vivid description

In March 2015, shortly after the Bar AGM that in the end decided not to table the motion due to a restraining order obtained by him, Shafee filed a civil action against the Bar.

Earlier on Feb 10 that year, the Federal Court affirmed Anwar’s conviction of sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan and sentenced him to five years in jail.

Then, in a talk organised by Umno on Feb 17, Shafee described the alleged sexual rendezvous between Anwar and Saiful in vivid detail which drew condemnation.

Anwar was given a full pardon by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on May 16, 2018.

Initially, Shafee’s lawsuit failed at the High Court and Court of Appeal stage.

However, in October 2021, the Federal Court allowed Shafee’s appeal and held that the Bar had breached its statutory duty by publishing the motion on its website in the run-up to the AGM in February 2015.

The apex court then sent the matter down to the High Court for damage assessment.

In the course of the assessment of damages, Shafee sought RM2 million in compensation.

“Hence, I most humbly pray that this honourable court award damages in the minimum global sum to me of RM2 million in the form of general damages, aggravated damages, punitive/exemplary damages, and damages arising from lost opportunity costs, and any other damages which would be appropriate as grave wrongdoing has been inflicted on me by their vindictive, malicious act with a contumacious disregard for my rights and the provisions of the law.

“This has resulted in great mental, physical, and financial distress coupled with humiliation, injury to my pride and dignity,” Shafee contended in his 22-page witness statement.

Lost opportunities, livelihood affected

According to the witness statement, Shafee claimed that he also seeks damages over “lost opportunity costs” due to him allegedly missing out on being able to represent clients in other cases, due to him concentrating on the present legal action against the Bar.

The 72-year-old claimed that the AGM motion infringed the Legal Profession Act 1976 and thus infringed on his personal liberty as well as his liberty to practise law, which he alleged had a detrimental effect on his livelihood.

“The very fact of my ongoing litigation with the defendant (Bar) and having to defend myself have caused many inroads into my day-to-day workload and clients have taken notice of this through the press, online articles, word-of-mouth of the motion that was against me and which was slated to be tabled at the AGM, and it has affected my earnings.

“This also resulted in mental and financial distress and humiliation. My dignity also suffered as the allegation against me made me look like a ‘publicity-seeking lawyer’ and one who had no respect for the bench and legal procedures as a whole.

“Even until today, this damage has not been erased as not everybody is aware of the Federal Court's decision in my favour,” Shafee claimed.

However during cross-examination by Chiew in August 2023, Shafee conceded that he still managed to take part in multiple high-profile cases between 2015 and 2022,

Among the high-profile court cases that Chiew listed were: the 2015 appeal of former Selangor menteri besar Khir Toyo over his 12-month jail sentence linked to the purchase of a bungalow and two plots of land; the corruption cases of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak; and the criminal trial involving the murder of Cradle Fund CEO Nazrin Hassan.

The Advocate and Solicitors Disciplinary Board proceedings against Shafee over his conduct have been ongoing since 2015.

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