The failure to provide certified translations of defamatory articles into the national language is fatal to a defamation claim, regardless of the merits of the case.

JUDGMENT

Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin Shah JC:

Preliminary

[1]"No one could ever meet death for his country without the hope of immortality" - Cicero.

[2] It is evident from this quotation by the greatest forensic orator Rome has ever produced that sacrificing and dying for one's country is the highest form of honour, and the sacrifices of the past must remain immortal in the minds of future generations.

[3] This is how the story unfolds.

[4] A shock wave swept through the entire nation when the late Deputy Public Prosecutor Dato' Anthony Kevin Morais was murdered. Apart from his family, his colleagues at the Attorney General's Chambers ("AGC"), one of the most important pillars in maintaining the rule of law and as the gatekeeper of justice, were the most affected. One of them is the plaintiff, who was the Special Officer to the Attorney General of Malaysia at the time.

[5] As we observe this heinous crime, we have never once dared to imagine that, rather than fully utilising the justice system to clear the accused of an alleged offence, he would resort to an unthinkable act by eliminating the deputy public prosecutor responsible for prosecuting him.

[6] As a result of the thorough investigation conducted by the Royal Malaysian Police, the perpetrators of this crime were swiftly arrested and charged. The High Court found them guilty, and the Court of Appeal recently affirmed that verdict, upholding the death penalty for these six men convicted of the murder of the late Dato' Anthony Kevin Morais.

[7] One of the most noteworthy aspects of that criminal case was the fact that no other individuals were involved in the murder of the late Dato' Anthony Kevin Morais nor did any facts exist that were relevant to the plaintiff in relation to the alleged issues raised in this suit.

An Overview Of The Facts Of The Case

[8] In this case, the criminality element of the late Dato' Anthony Kevin Morais' death and the convictions of his murderers have no bearing on the dispute before me. Still, rather, the focus of the dispute has been the alleged defamatory articles that came up as a result of this tragedy, which led to the plaintiff, a sitting Sessions Court Judge at the time of filing the action, bringing this suit on the grounds that the articles have led to public odium, contempt and scandal against the plaintiff.

[9] In this regard, it appears that the plaintiff has had a distinguished legal and judicial career spanning 24 years, beginning with her position as Senior Assistant Registrar of the Ipoh High Court under the supervision of the late Dato' Anthony Kevin Morais, a Magistrate, Deputy Registrar, Sessions Court Judge and Senior Deputy Public Prosecutor. She also served in various divisions, including the Research Division, the Drafting Division, the Law Revision and the Reform Division. Additionally, she served as the Special Officer to the Attorney General of Malaysia, the Head of the Secretariat for the Attorney General's Office and the Head of the Statistics Unit under the Chief Registrar's Office.

[10] The defendant, a British citizen, is the owner, host, administrator, editor and journalist of a website called Sarawak Report, accessible at www.sarawakreport.org. Through the Sarawak Report, she has gained international recognition.

[11] The following three articles are considered to be defamatory in this case:

(a)"How AG's Office Connived to Prevent a Second Post-Mortem on Kevin Morais - Exclusive Expose" dated 20 December 2015 ("1st Impugned Defamatory Article");

(b)"Slapped with RM100m defamation suit but Rewcastle-Brown unaware" published by Malaysia Kini dated 11th of July 2019 ("2nd Impugned Defamatory Article"); and

(c)"Rewcastle-Brown says unaware of RM100mil defamation suit" by Free Malaysia Today dated 11th of July 2019 ("3rd Impugned Defamatory Article");

collectively referred to as the Impugned Defamatory Articles.

[12] The dispute began, however, with the 1st Impugned Defamatory Article. It was published on 20 December 2015 on the Sarawak