The Bar, which represents more than 25,000 practising lawyers in the peninsula, filed its notice of appeal to the Court of Appeal at the High Court registry here yesterday.

Lawyer Aidil Khalid, representing the plaintiff, Haniff Khatri Abdulla, confirmed that his legal firm had received a copy of the notice.

On March 3, Justice Roslan Mat Nor dismissed the Bar’s application, ruling that the lawyers’ body had not demonstrated a legal interest in the case.

However, Roslan held that the Bar could still take part in the case as amicus curiae (friend of the court) or hold a watching brief.

Last year, Haniff, a practising lawyer, filed a writ of summons and statement of claim naming the government as the sole defendant in the lawsuit.

He is seeking a court declaration that the Bahasa Melayu version of the constitution should take precedence over the English version.

Haniff said the suit was based on Article 160B of the Federal Constitution, which provides that once the constitution is translated into the national language, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong may prescribe the national language text as the authoritative version.

Although the king launched the Bahasa Melayu version of the constitution on Sept 29, 2003, Haniff said the government had yet to make it the authoritative text.

He claimed this was a breach of the government’s constitutional duty to ensure it took the necessary steps to uphold and dignify the national language.

The government, in its defence, said the English version of the constitution remains its authoritative text, citing two Federal Court decisions as precedents.