Kuala lumpur: The Court of Appeal has dismissed a British national's bid for leave to appeal against a Magistrate's Court's refusal to immediately transfer her drug trafficking case to the High Court. A three-member bench comprising Justices Datuk Wong Kian Kheong, Datuk Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz, and Datuk Meor Hashimi Abdul Hamid allowed the prosecution's preliminary objection, ruling that Deishanei Ciara Hall's leave-to-appeal application was incompetent.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Justice Wong stated that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain Hall's application for leave to appeal against the High Court's refusal to revise the Magistrate's Court's decision. He emphasized that there was no decision from either the High Court or the Magistrate's Court under Section 50 (1) and (2) of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964.
Justice Wong elaborated that Section 41 (A) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 requires the chemist's report and the public prosecutor's requisition before automatically transferring the case to the High Court. He urged the prosecution to expedite the chemist's report to ensure the case proceeds without delay.
Hall, 21, must obtain leave from the court because her case originated from the Sepang Magistrates' Court. Trafficking cases are initially filed in the Magistrates' Court and then transferred to the High Court. She was charged in April for trafficking 19,076 grammes of cannabis at the narcotics office in Kuala Lumpur International Airport on April 12.
In August, the Magistrate's Court denied Hall's request for immediate transfer to the High Court, pending the chemist's report. Her lawyers subsequently applied for a revision at the High Court, which was dismissed, leading Hall to seek leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal.
During the proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Abdul Malik Ayob raised a preliminary objection, arguing that Hall's application for leave to appeal was incompetent as the decisions of the Magistrate's Court and High Court were not final. Hall's lawyer, Michelle Tan Yung Yin, argued for a prompt transfer to facilitate an early trial date.