Bastian Pius Vendargon, representing the Malaysian Bar, said it viewed the Laidlaw appeal as having been rendered academic by the Federal Court decision on Najib’s case in August.

The court had upheld Najib’s conviction, 12-year jail sentence, and RM210 million fine on various corruption charges relating to funds of SRC International, a government-owned company.

Laidlaw, who is a King’s Counsel, had applied in July to represent Najib. Foreign lawyers must apply for ad hoc admission to the Malaysian Bar before they can represent clients in Malaysia.

His application was rejected by the High Court on July 21 as the court held that Laidlaw did not possess special qualifications and experience that were unavailable among local lawyers.

Laidlaw filed a notice of appeal to the Federal Court on Aug 23, the day of the Najib decision. However, his lawyers have yet to file the appeal records, said Vendargon.

He said notice of the Bar’s objection had been handed to the deputy registrar of the Federal Court Suhaila Haron.

Vendargon said Suhaila allowed any party who wished to file a motion with regard to the objection to do so promptly. She has set Nov 8 for further case management of the appeal.

The other parties in the case are Attorney-General Idrus Harun and the Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee.