Federal counsel Khairulhazman Ghazali informed High Court judicial commissioner Roz Mawar Rozain that the case has been referred to the court’s mediation centre.

“Mediation has been fixed from Sept 23 to 27,” he said.

Roz Mawar then said the court had actually set Oct 14 for the trial.

She wished the family and the government “good luck” in their mediation.

The court fixed Sept 30 for both parties to update her on the mediation.

Outside the court, lawyer SN Nair, who appeared for the family, told reporters that his clients want the matter resolved.

Previously, the family submitted proposals to settle the lawsuit, but the government did not respond.

Ivana, who was 18, was found dead on the sixth floor of CapSquare Residence on Dec 7, 2017, after falling from a unit on the 20th floor.

An inquest held in 2018 determined that her death was a “misadventure”.

Upon revision by the High Court, Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah ruled that Smit’s death was caused by “persons known or unknown”.

Smit’s mother, Christina Caroline Gerarda Johanna Verstappen, filed the lawsuit on the family’s behalf in 2020, naming the government, the police and investigating officer Faizal Abdullah as defendants.

She claimed they had failed to determine the cause of death.

The government previously sought to quash the family’s lawsuit on grounds that it was akin to directing the conduct of the police investigation. However, the court rejected the striking-out bid in December 2022.