Judge Mohd Zawawi Salleh said it was also desirable, in the interest of justice, for the defence to obtain the fullest possible access to the facts relevant to the case.

“It is apposite to emphasise that a person’s right to defend against a criminal charge includes the right to obtain and adduce other evidence in support of his or her defence,” Zawawi said in a written judgment delivered last week.

He said this was an important element of an accused’s right to a fair trial.

On April 24, Zawawi had led a three-member bench in allowing an unemployed man’s appeal to set aside his conviction for trafficking in 113kg of cannabis.

The other two judges were Nallini Pathmanathan and Mary Lim.

Rosli Yusof, 39, was instead sentenced to 18 years’ jail and ordered to be whipped 10 times for possessing the drugs which were found concealed in five rice bags in a car.

He committed the offence at Hentian Juru (southbound), Central Seberang Prai, Penang, at 10pm on Dec 6, 2014.

A police team arrested Rosli and found the bags, containing 119 packets of compressed plants which were later found to be cannabis, in the boot of the car he was in.

Lawyer K Simon Murali, who was assigned by the court to represent Rosli, submitted that the prosecution had failed to offer to the defence the three Malaysians and a Thai national, who were investigated together with Rosli.

The lawyer said this denied Rosli, who was in jail, the opportunity to call them as his witnesses and this amounted to a denial of his constitutional right to a fair trial.

Zawawi said the bench agreed with the lawyer that the Court of Appeal had committed serious misdirection in placing the burden on Rosli to call these witnesses to establish his defence.

The defence contended that Muhamad Kamarul Hisham Mohd Jilani was the actual trafficker and the failure to call him was a decisive factor in the assessment of the defence case.

Zawawi said prosecutors in criminal trials occupied a special position and were often called “ministers of justice”.

He said their role was to present the whole case and assist the court in finding out where the truth lies.

“We would like to emphasise that, at all times, prosecutors are expected to present their case fairly, impartially and professionally,” he said.

Zawawi said it was the rule that the conviction of Rosli must rest not on the weakness of the defence but on the strength of the prosecution.

“This principle is the cornerstone of our criminal law,” he added.