Khairul Hafizuddin & Co.

On the court record

Khairul Hafizuddin & Co. is a Malaysian criminal-defence practice whose reported matters are argued before the High Court (Mahkamah Tinggi), acting for accused persons in prosecutions brought by the Public Prosecutor (Pendakwa Raya). The caseload is dominated by dangerous-drugs prosecutions under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 (Act 234). The firm has defended trafficking charges under section 39B(1)(a), including a matter in which the accused was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for life (penjara seumur hidup) and twelve strokes of the whip, the central question being whether the prosecution had proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt (tanpa keraguan munasabah).

Significantly, the firm has also secured favourable outcomes at the close of the prosecution case. In a trafficking prosecution under section 39B(1)(a) the accused was dilepas dan dibebaskan di akhir kes (released and acquitted at the close of the case), the court not being satisfied that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, and in a further matter the firm handled an alternative charge under section 12(2) read with section 39A(2), where a plea of guilt was entered and the contest was whether the sentence imposed was fair and appropriate (adil dan wajar). Across these matters the recurring battlegrounds are the standard of proof at the close of the prosecution case, the proof of possession and knowledge of dangerous drugs, and the calibration of sentence, whether after conviction on a trafficking charge or on a plea to a lesser charge. Because several of the firm's matters concern accused persons facing the gravest drug charges, the recurring question has been whether access to the premises or the drugs was shared, so that neither exclusive possession nor the presumption of trafficking could be sustained. The reported profile is that of a specialist criminal-defence practice concentrated on drug prosecutions, engaged both in contesting trafficking charges to the point of acquittal and in mitigating sentence where guilt is admitted on a reduced charge.