Judge Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid fixed the date after taking over the case from fellow judge Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh.

Earlier, Wan Farid recused himself from hearing Laidlaw’s application for ad hoc admission on grounds that he had immediate family members who were Umno leaders.

He also said he was previously with Umno and served as a senator before becoming a judge.

Appearing for Laidlaw, who is also a Queen’s Counsel (QC), lawyer Shafee Abdullah said the Federal Court had fixed Aug 15 to 26 for Najib’s SRC International appeal.

“I am prepared to have this heard as early as July 6,” Shafee said.

Kamal then asked the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), the Malaysian Bar, and the KL Bar Committee for their stand on Laidlaw’s petition for ad hoc admission.

Lawyer V Sithambaram, who is leading the prosecution in the SRC International case, said they were objecting to Laidlaw’s admission and had filed an affidavit to oppose it.

Bastian Vendargon and Vivekananda Sukumaran, appearing for the Bar and the KL Bar, respectively, also said they were taking the same stand as the AGC.

To that, the court instructed the Bar and the KL Bar to file their affidavits to oppose Laidlaw’s admission by June 27.

“Written submissions are to be filed on July 5,” Kamal said.

In his petition, Laidlaw said SRC International involved “serious, complex, and novel issues related to several branches of criminal and civil laws”.

“For the purpose of the appeal, the applicant (Laidlaw) possesses special qualifications, experience and expertise which is not available among the lawyers here”.

Najib has been convicted on seven charges of power abuse, criminal breach of trust and money laundering over RM42 million belonging to SRC International that entered his bank accounts.

The court sentenced him to 12 years jail and a RM210 million fine. He is out on bail pending his Federal Court hearing.