Defence – Criminal & Statutory Offences

  • Successfully defended a former Commissioner of Police and his Deputy, against a suit for wrongful imprisonment and unlawful detention by an ex-detainee detained under the Internal Security Act, which case went to the Privy Council in the UK. The judgment of the Privy Council is an oft-cited authority on principles relating to retroactive effect of statute.
  • Successfully represented a senior labour inspector in the High Court and another civil servant in separate corruption cases involving “entrapment” by enforcement officers. Managed to gain acquittal for two uniformed personnel charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
  • Represented defendants charged with white collar crimes and misuse of drugs laws.
  • Acted as co-counsel for a former Government Minister in an appeal before the Court of Appeal for the disqualification of the trial judge hearing the corruption case against the former Minister on the grounds of bias. Acted as main counsel for the former Minister in a re-trial and eventual petition for clemency.
  • Defended and gained acquittal in the High Court for a client in the first case involving human trafficking charge.
  • Defended a company in the first case involving charges under the Workplace, Safety and Health Order.
  • Represented defendants in capital offence cases assigned by the Government. In one robbery-cum-murder case, managed to obtain reduction of the charge to that of manslaughter.

Civil Litigation

  • Acted as counsel for Islamic Development Bank of Brunei in making applications to court in connection with its merger with Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam Berhad.
  • Acted for Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam seeking court confirmation to reduce its capital as part of its capital optimization exercise which paved the way for the Bank to implement a special dividend payment to its members with the approval of the regulators.
  • Acted as counsel for Malayan Banking Berhad in an action against an infrastructure contractor/borrower in a banking cum construction dispute involving the following matters: –

○ pre-action negotiations with the borrower contractor, the Public Works Department, various contractors and consultants to devise a scheme to salvage the infrastructure projects and to prevent a call on the banker’s guarantee given by the bank to the Government;

○ resisting the application by the borrower contractor to High Court for the ad hoc admission of a Queen’s Counsel to represent for the borrower contractor and followed by an appeal to the Court of Appeal by the borrower against the High Court’s refusal to grant admission to the Queen’s Counsel. The judgment of the Court of Appeal clarifies the requirements of the provisions in the Legal Profession Act (Chapter 132) governing ad hoc admissions of Queen’s Counsel; and

○ High Court trial of the main action against the borrower contractor for recovery of the debt due to the bank and to resist the borrower’s counterclaim for damages for wrongful termination of the facilities on the part of the bank and followed by an appeal to the Court of Appeal by the borrower against the judgment of the High Court and the dismissal of their counterclaim.

 

  • Acted as solicitors and junior counsel to a Queen’s Counsel for a local newspaper and editor-in-chief in a High Court defamation action against a former Government Minister, the local newspaper who published the defamatory article and the journalist reporting the defamatory statements made by the defendant when he was a Government Minister.
  • Acted as counsel for a bank in an application involving the question whether creditors in bankruptcy may insist that the Official Receiver distribute to creditors post-Receiving Order interest out of surplus funds in the Official Receiver’s account. The judgment of the High Court in favour of the applicant bank sets the precedent for receivers to distribute post-Receiving Order interest to creditor in bankruptcy.
  • Giving expert opinion on the laws of Brunei Darussalam relating to international business companies and trust for purposes of arbitration proceedings in the Netherlands.
  • Giving expert opinion and evidence on the laws of Brunei Darussalam relating to contract and agency and on the Constitution of Brunei Darussalam on behalf of defendants in a suit in Australia.
  • Successfully represented a client in the Court of Appeal which held that the Lunacy Acts 1890 and 1908 of England are statutes of general application under Section 2 of the Application of Laws Act and applies to the administration of property of a lunatic in Brunei.
  • Rendering expert opinion to shipping companies on mercantile law, marine and insurance claims and disputes.
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