Che Mohd Ruzima bin Ghazali

On the judicial record

An appellate and Federal Court judge whose reported corpus sits at the centre of Malaysia's criminal justice system, including resentencing under the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023 and the Child Act 2001.

Justice Che Mohd Ruzima bin Ghazali sits in the Court of Appeal (Mahkamah Rayuan) and increasingly in the Federal Court (Mahkamah Persekutuan), and the reported decisions in this corpus are heavily criminal, with a significant body of work arising from the reform of the death penalty. A prominent group of Federal Court decisions concerns the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023 and, in particular, sentencing under section 97(2) of the Child Act 2001, where an offender who was a child at the time is to be 'detained in prison during the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) or Ruler'. The court examined whether that form of detention is consistent with the right to life and liberty under Article 5 of the Federal Constitution, concluding that it does not violate Article 5 because the child offender is dealt with under a distinct statutory regime.

Drug appeals form the core of the Court of Appeal work — appeals from convictions under seksyen 39B(1)(a) Akta Dadah Berbahaya 1952 (section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952), read where relevant with seksyen 34 Kanun Keseksaan (section 34 of the Penal Code) on common intention, and possession charges under seksyen 12(2). The recurring issues include whether a kes prima facie (a prima facie case) was established, and prosecution appeals against an order that the accused be dilepaskan dan dibebaskan (discharged and acquitted) where the trial court found the prosecution had not made out its case.

Beyond the transitional sentencing questions, the ordinary work of the criminal appellate list continues in the corpus, including the assessment of the trial court's fact-finding, the treatment of the statutory presumptions of trafficking, and the elements of possession — custody, control and knowledge — that the prosecution must establish. The combination is characteristic of an appellate and apex-court judge whose reported work sits at the centre of Malaysia's criminal-justice system as it adjusts to the abolition of the mandatory death penalty and the resentencing of those previously subject to it.