Anwar's appeal against Yusoff lawsuit set for hearing next year

Summary

• PM Anwar Ibrahim will have his appeal in the civil suit filed against him by Yusoff Rawther heard on March 4 next year in the Court of Appeal.

• Rafique Rashid Ali, who is representing the former aide to Anwar, says his client plans to write to the Court of Appeal president to seek an earlier date, as the suit was of significant public interest.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s appeal in the civil suit filed against him by Yusoff Rawther over alleged sexual assault has been scheduled for hearing at the Court of Appeal on March 4, 2026.

The date was set following case management conducted via e-Review before the Court of Appeal’s deputy registrar today.

Yusoff’s lawyer Rafique Rashid Ali said that case management has been scheduled for Feb 19, 2026.

According to Rafique, Anwar’s legal team sought to introduce additional documents that had not been referred to in the prime minister’s earlier High Court application for a reference of questions of law, but the respondent’s counsel strongly opposed it.

"Subsequently, on behalf of the respondent, we repeatedly applied for an early appeal hearing date to be fixed, taking into account the recommendation of the honourable presiding judge who heard the application for stay of proceedings on July 21, 2025.

"At the same time, counsel for the appellant stated that they had no available dates earlier, while the court informed that the earliest available hearing dates would be in January, February, or March 2026.

"Taking this into consideration, on behalf of the respondent, we requested that the appeal hearing be fixed at the earliest possible date of Jan 7, 2026, but this was not agreeable to the counsel for the appellant.

“The Court of Appeal subsequently fixed the appeal hearing for March 4, 2026, with case management on Feb 19, 2026," he said in a statement.

Rafique added that Yusoff has now instructed his legal team to write to the Court of Appeal president, to seek an earlier date, stressing that the case involves significant public interest and that the appeal largely revolves around points of law, with the record already filed.

Temporary reprieve

On July 21, Anwar secured a temporary reprieve in the civil suit filed against him by his former aide, Yusoff, after the Court of Appeal granted a stay of proceedings.

A three-member bench chaired by judge Che Ruzima Ghazali said a stay should be granted as Anwar had shown special circumstances, pending his appeal at the Federal Court to refer eight constitutional questions, the New Straits Times reported.

On June 10, the Court of Appeal issued an interim stay on all proceedings in the civil suit, in which Yusoff accused Anwar of sexual assault in 2018.

The subsequent July ruling followed the panel’s earlier decision to allow Anwar’s application for a temporary halt pending his bid for a full stay of proceedings.

On June 4, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed Anwar’s application to halt the civil suit by Yusoff.

Judge Roz Mawar Rozain found that Anwar’s claims of immunity and potential harm to his executive functions had no constitutional basis, emphasising that all individuals are equal before the law.

READ MORE: High Court grounds of judgment rejecting Anwar's bid to pause lawsuit

In her judgment, Roz noted that Anwar’s application did not claim the lawsuit would hinder his ability to carry out his constitutional duties, nor was there any evidence provided to support such a claim.

The court ruled that the eight constitutional questions raised by Anwar did not satisfy the required legal standard.

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