A source said the RCI will present its findings and proposals to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at a date to be determined, expected to be later this month.
It said the report is confidential because it contains sensitive information about ongoing negotiations with Singapore over territorial waters.
“The RCI will leave it to the government to make a final decision on whether to make its report public, but members will make certain suggestions to the prime minister,” the source told FMT.
On Monday, the RCI submitted its classified final report to Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim at Istana Negara.
On Feb 3, 2017, Putrajaya filed an application to review a decision by the International Court of Justice, handed down nine years earlier, to award Singapore sovereignty over Pulau Batu Puteh.
In its decision, the ICJ had awarded Middle Rocks to Malaysia, while the ownership of South Ledge, situated about 4km from Pulau Batu Puteh, was left to be determined based on the delimitation of territorial waters.
However, upon taking over Putrajaya in May 2018, the Pakatan Harapan government, led by prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, withdrew the application before it was scheduled to be heard the following month.
On Feb 14, 2024, Sultan Ibrahim consented to an RCI led by former chief justice Raus Sharif to inquire into why Malaysia had dropped its review application.
At the time, law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said said the RCI was established to seek resolution for and improve national sovereignty issues, rather than assign blame to any party.
On June 12 this year, Mahathir testified in the RCI proceedings which was conducted behind closed doors.
On the same day, the High Court rejected Mahathir’s bid to recuse Raus, Baljit Singh Sidhu and Ridha Abd Kadir from the panel.
Justice Amarjit Singh also refused to order that the proceedings be conducted by way of a public hearing, ruling that they were not amenable to judicial review by the courts.
Mahathir’s appeal is pending in the Court of Appeal.
On June 5, Mahathir, who was prime minister for the second time between May 2018 and February 2020, said Raus’s appointment was a gross violation of natural justice because he was an interested party.
Mahathir had filed a judicial review in 2017 to challenge the legality of Raus continuing to serve as chief justice until 2020 after he was appointed as an additional judge of the Federal Court. The appointment was made after Raus reached the mandatory retirement age set out in the Federal Constitution.
Meanwhile, Mahathir said Baljit and Ridha would have predetermined the issues because they were also members of a special task force set up in 2021 to scrutinise and give recommendations about Pulau Batu Puteh, including a review of laws.