Atiqah binti Abdul Karim @ Husaini

On the court record

An appellate criminal-prosecution practice in the Court of Appeal, concentrated on drug-trafficking appeals.

Atiqah binti Abdul Karim @ Husaini appears in the Court of Appeal (Mahkamah Rayuan), and the reported decisions place her on the prosecution side and as respondent in criminal appeals. The dominant subject is drug trafficking under "seksyen 39B(1)(a) Akta Dadah Berbahaya 1952" (section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952), punishable under section 39B(2), argued as "rayuan terhadap sabitan dan hukuman" (appeals against conviction and sentence).

The appeals engage the standard architecture of a trafficking prosecution: the possession and trafficking presumptions, the lesser and alternative charges available under "seksyen 12" of the Act, and the criminal-procedure provision in "seksyen 182A Kanun Tatacara Jenayah" (section 182A of the Criminal Procedure Code), governing the court's assessment of the whole of the evidence at the close of the trial. A custody-and-control question — whether the accused had the requisite dominion over the drug exhibits — recurs, since it is the foundation on which the statutory presumptions rest.

Acting mainly as respondent for the prosecution, the reported task is to defend the High Court's conviction and sentence against a convicted person's challenge, meeting arguments that the presumptions were wrongly drawn or that the evidence was insufficient to establish possession and knowledge. Where she appears as appellant for the prosecution, the object is to disturb an acquittal or an inadequate sentence.

The overall profile is a focused appellate criminal-prosecution practice in the Court of Appeal, organised around serious drug offences. The matters turn on the possession and trafficking presumptions, the custody-and-control element, and the appellate standard for reviewing a conviction and sentence, rather than on primary fact-finding at trial, marking a settled appellate speciality in drug enforcement. The recurring section 12 alternative charge is a notable feature, since the choice between the trafficking count and a lesser possession offence often shapes both the appeal and the sentence in issue. Section 182A of the Criminal Procedure Code, governing the court's assessment of the whole of the evidence, is a further recurring reference point in these appeals.