Pannick singled out as one of Britain’s most influential and powerful advocates over the past few decades.
Top British barrister Lord David Pannick has been appointed by the Malaysian government to lead its case against International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) at the London High Court, reports news portal Malaysiakini.
The portal, quoting a high-level government source, said that the appointment of Pannick, a Queen’s Counsel known for handling high-level law cases, would strongly indicate to the courts in England, IPIC and Aabar Investments PJS that Malaysia is serious in litigating the dispute.
“There is no doubt, Malaysia will greatly benefit from his strong advocacy skills and presence in court,” the source was quoted as saying by Malaysiakini on Friday (Nov 16).
It was reported that Pannick, a star human rights lawyer who won the landmark Article 50 Brexit case, practises a broad range of subjects and acts in a wide spectrum of public interest disputes.
The source added that he has been singled out as one of Britain’s most influential and powerful advocates over the past few decades.
“Additionally, Lord Pannick is amongst a small group of lawyers appointed as crossbenchers to sit in the House of Lords.
“The most recent in a string of his famous cases is when he successfully challenged the validity of British premier Theresa May’s government’s invocation of Article 50 of the European Union Treaty to leave the European Union without an Act of Parliament, widely reported as the Brexit challenge.
“This case is regarded as UK’s most important constitutional case in decades,” the source was quoted as saying.
It was reported that Pannick has also represented Queen Elizabeth in an injunction case and appeared in numerous cases in the courts of Hong Kong, Brunei, Cayman Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Gibraltar and the British Virgin Islands.
In October, it was reported that Attorney-General Tommy Thomas said that the government will apply to the High Court in London for an order to set aside a consent award recorded in May last year by an arbitration tribunal sitting there.
Thomas said they were confident that they had a strong case in the arbitration between the IPIC and Aabar Investments PJS as claimants, and 1MDB and Minister of Finance Inc as respondents.
Thomas said the basis of Malaysia’s legal challenge was that the consent award was procured by fraud or in a manner contrary to public policy.
Under the consent award, Malaysia is obliged to pay US$5.78 billion (RM24.16 billion) to IPIC and the bond trustee over a five-year period. – The Star