KUALA LUMPUR, March — The need for a mechanism to monitor third-party litigation financing was among the topics discussed during a bilateral discussion between Malaysia and the United Kingdom (UK).
The discussion was held between Minister in Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said and the UK’s Justice Ministry Parliamentary Under Secretary Mike Freer.
Azalina said the discussion touched on the urgent need for the creation of such a mechanism as certain parties were abusing the legal system, including the arbitration process, for their own interests, citing the case of the Sulu claimants against Malaysia.
“We also discussed the first Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) law, which will be tabled in the United Kingdom to protect any party against the actions of any individual or company that uses the legal system unreasonably to harass, intimidate, and wear out their opponents financially or psychologically,” she said in a Facebook post today.
Azalina, who is attending the Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting in Zanzibar, Tanzania, from March 4 to March 8, said they also discussed joint efforts and knowledge sharing between both countries about the empirical study of the separation of powers of the Attorney-General and public prosecutors during their meeting.
“I have also been informed that an empirical study based on evidence-based research taking into consideration the Shawcross Principle and Doctrine of Independent Aloofness will be carried out in the United Kingdom this year,” she said.
— Bernama
