PETALING JAYA: It was unreasonable for former attorney general Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali to exclude several Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) officers and related government agencies from the team reviewing the Batu Puteh territorial claim at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
According to the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report, neither the National Security Council, National Hydrography Centre, Foreign Ministry, Johor state government nor officers from the AGC's international affairs division were part of the team.
It also revealed that the Foreign Ministry's involvement was only limited to the appointment of Malaysia's Ambassador to the Hague, Netherlands, as a Malaysian agent.
"Apandi, in his statement, admitted that his decision to not include various agencies in both applications was to preserve confidentiality.
"The commission finds that in such crucial matters involving the nation's sovereignty, interagency engagements must be held to obtain the views of all parties.
"The commission is of the view that Apandi's actions to exclude officers from the AGC and other related agencies are unreasonable and should not be a precedent," read the RCI report tabled in Parliament on Thursday (Dec 5).
The report also said AGC officers like Datuk Almalena Sharmila Johan and Dr Suraya Harun were not part of the team.
It said the duo were involved during the ICJ trial in 2008, adding that they were still attached to the AGC at the time and should have been part of the team.
It also noted that Dr Suraya is competent in international maritime law and familiar with the case of Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge first filed in 2003.
According to the report, Mohamed Apandi led the initiative to file the application to review and later interpret the ICJ's decision after receiving the mandate from then-prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Jan 31, 2016.
The task force, led by Mohamed Apandi, comprised two local consultants, Abu Bakar As-Sidek Mohd Sidek and Datuk Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin; five international consultants comprising Prof Malcolm Shaw, Sir Daniel Lincoln Bethlehem, Dr Brendan Plant, Prof Laurence Boisson and Coalther Lathrop; three research officers from the AGC, Norliyana Abdul Manaf, Hafizah Hamdzah and Mohd Shahrysham Kamran; and Malaysia's Ambassador to the Hague, Netherlands Datuk Ahmad Nazri Yusuf.
Apart from the three research officers, the commission said no other AGC officers were directly involved nor had in-depth knowledge of the legal merits in both applications.
On Aug 29, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said the RCI report on the Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge issue would be tabled in Parliament, after the report was presented to the cabinet on Aug 28.
The RCI, chaired by Tun Md Raus Sharif was tasked with reviewing the handling of matters related to the sovereignty of Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge.
In February, the government announced that His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, had consented to the establishment of the RCI.
The issue stems from a decision made by the government in 2018 to withdraw Malaysia's application to review the International Court of Justice's decision on the sovereignty of Batu Puteh.
At the time, the government was led by Dr Mahathir.
In 2008, the ICJ ruled that Batu Puteh belonged to Singapore while Middle Rocks was awarded to Malaysia.
It also ruled that the ownership of South Ledge would be determined based on the delimitation of territorial waters.
Malaysia filed an application to review ICJ's ruling in 2017 but it was withdrawn in May 2018.
In the RCI report, it said that Malaysia could refile the new interpretation application at any appropriate time.
