Suriyati Hasimah binti Mohd Hashim

On the judicial record

A guide to how a High Court judge applies the prima-facie-case threshold and sentencing framework in drug and homicide prosecutions, and uses the revisionary jurisdiction under the Criminal Procedure Code to correct subordinate-court orders.

Suriyati Hasimah binti Mohd Hashim sits in the High Court, and this collection is overwhelmingly criminal, with judgments and catchwords in Bahasa Malaysia. Drug prosecutions dominate: trafficking charges under seksyen 39B(1)(a) Akta Dadah Berbahaya 1952 (section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952), punishable under section 39B(2) of the same Act, with recurring questions about the type and weight of the drugs, possession, and the prima-facie-case threshold at the close of the prosecution. Homicide features through charges under seksyen 302 Kanun Keseksaan (section 302 of the Penal Code), including matters in which the accused's state of mind was in issue — described as orang tidak waras fikiran (a person of unsound mind) — bearing on criminal responsibility. Criminal appeals against conviction and sentence recur, including offences under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and its sentencing provisions. Criminal revision is well represented: applications under section 323 of the Criminal Procedure Code to revise a Magistrate's order, and an application to adduce additional evidence under section 61 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964. Offences under the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 (Akta 792) appear on revision and appeal, including a preliminary objection to a charge. The judgments state the charge, work through the evidence at each stage of the trial, and record the disposition in the court's operative terms, glossing the Malay as it appears. In keeping with the site's suppression rule, accused persons are referred to by role; corporate and institutional parties are named. A consistent feature is the court's stage-by-stage assessment of the evidence and its attention to the mental element where the accused's capacity is in issue, both of which can be decisive of criminal responsibility. The collection is a useful guide to how a High Court judge applies the prima-facie-case threshold and the sentencing framework in drug and homicide prosecutions, and how the revisionary jurisdiction is used to correct orders made in the subordinate courts.