CHEUNG CHIA MING v Pendakwa Raya

q-05m-305-08-2023 Court of Appeal (Mahkamah Rayuan) 9 March 2026 • Q-05(M)-305-08/2023 • 54 min read
27 cases cited (0 SG, 27 foreign)

Outcome

Accordingly, we unanimously dismissed these Appeals and affirmed the learned High Court Judge's decision on both conviction and sentence of death in their entirety.

Quoted verbatim from the judgment of Court of Appeal (Mahkamah Rayuan) (q-05m-305-08-2023). Read the full judgment on the official Malaysia Courts portal for the complete decision.

Catchwords

Criminal Law – Murder – Appeal by Appellants who were convicted and sentenced to death by HCJ – Whether HCJ had misdirected himself as to what constituted common intention of the Second Appellant – Penal Code, section 34 Criminal Procedure – Murder – Appeal by Appellants who were convicted and sentenced to death by HCJ – Failure of the HCJ to specify the precise limb of section 300 of the Penal Code at the close of the Prosecution's case – Whether HCJ had erred in deciding that the Prosecution had established a prima facie against the Appellants – Whether such omission had occasioned a miscarriage of justice Criminal Procedure – Murder – Appeal by Appellants who were convicted and sentenced to death by HCJ – Whether HCJ had erred in the exercise of his discretion in imposing the death penalty on both Appellants – Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023, section 34. Evidence – Murder – Appeal by Appellants who were convicted and sentenced to death by HCJ – Conduct of Appellants and abusive relationship between Appellants and Deceased prior to her death – Whether amounted to bad character - Whether HCJ had erred in taking into consideration bad character of Appellants – Evidence Act 1950, sections 6, 7, 8, 9, 14 Evidence – Murder – Appeal by Appellants who were convicted and sentenced to death by HCJ – Evidence adduced by the prosecution entirely circumstantial – Whether HCJ had appreciated the totality of the evidence in finding the Appellants guilty beyond a reasonable doubt

Practice Areas

Criminal Law Criminal Procedure Evidence

Judges (3)

Alwi bin Abdul Wahab Coram Evrol Mariette Peters Delivered Wong Kian Kheong Coram

Counsel (6)

Timothy F Joel Firm Yap Hoi Liong & Co Firm Ng Siew Wee Counsel Respondent Timothy Finlayson Joel Counsel Appellant Wilson Law Counsel Appellant Yap Hoi Liong Counsel Appellant

Parties (2)

Pendakwa Raya Respondent Cheung Chia Ming Appellant

Statutes Cited

Courts of Judicature Act 1964 (Cap 91)
s 60 s 60(1)
Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 593)
s 422
Evidence Act
s 8
Evidence Act 1950 (Cap 56)
s 106 s 167 s 54 s 6 s 7 s 8 s 8(1) s 8(2) s 9
Penal Code (Cap 574)
s 300 s 300(c) s 302 s 34

Cases Cited (27)

UK (1)
[1987] AC 281
MY (26)
[1955] MLJ 13 [1958] MLJ 108 [1962] 1 MLJ 307 [1964] 1 MLJ 149 [1969] 2 MLJ 209 [1971] 2 MLJ 16 [1975] 2 MLJ 179 [1978] 2 MLJ 78 [1982] 2 MLJ 306 [1983] 2 CLJ 10 [1997] 3 CLJ 150 [1998] 2 CLJ 383 [1999] 2 MLJ 1 [2002] 3 CLJ 457 [2005] 2 MLJ 301 [2007] 5 CLJ 1 [2010] 1 CLJ 1 [2011] 5 CLJ 833 [2012] 2 CLJ 1046 [2016] 1 MLJ 17 [2017] 3 MLJ 141 [2020] 2 CLJ 187 [2024] 6 CLJ 18 [2025] 1 CLJ 517 [2025] 10 CLJ 533 [2025] 8 CLJ 433

Judgment

Read the full judgment on the official Malaysia Courts portal.

Read on eJudgment

Source: eJudgment (q-05m-305-08-2023)