Deputy public prosecutor Ashrof Adrin Kamarul said the date was fixed by the court during case management yesterday.

Justice Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, a judge in the court’s civil division, will hear the suit by Ling Yang Ching and Wong Ong Hua challenging Sections 4 and 20 of the Extradition Act 1992.

Section 4 deals with the home minister’s power to direct the extradition of a suspect to face criminal charges in a requesting country.

Section 20 says the court must commit the suspect to detention, pending the minister’s order to surrender him.

Ling and Wong claim both provisions contravene their fundamental liberties and the judicial powers vested in the courts by the Federal Constitution.

The US government had applied for the duo to be extradited to face charges in the District of Columbia for allegedly running a global hacking operation to steal identities and video game technology, planting ransomware and spying on Hong Kong activists.

Earlier today, their lawyer, Tey Jun Ren, withdrew a reference application pending before Justice Zaini Mazlan in the High Court’s criminal division on the ground that the same issues would be ventilated in the civil suit which they have filed.

The reference was made to Zaini by the sessions court where the duo’s extradition proceedings have been brought.

The extradition proceedings have been stayed by the sessions court pending disposal of the matter in the High Court.