Izzat bin Muhtar

On the court record

Izzat bin Muhtar appears in the corpus in employment and administrative litigation and in civil procedure, argued in the High Court (Mahkamah Tinggi) and the Court of Appeal (Mahkamah Rayuan). One High Court matter, appearing for the applicant, was a 'permohonan semakan kehakiman' (an application for judicial review) of a decision of the Industrial Court (Mahkamah Perusahaan Malaysia) under Order 53 rule 3 of the Rules of Court 2012, arising from a dismissal connected with a critical and delayed commitment document under a service contract; the court examined the grounds of review — 'ketidakabsahan' (illegality), 'ketidakmunasabahan' (irrationality), 'ketidakpatuhan prosedur' (procedural impropriety) and 'ketidakberkadaran' (proportionality) — together with whether there was any conflict of interest or direct nexus, the principle 'nemo judex in causa sua' and the rules of natural justice, and whether an order of certiorari should issue. The related Court of Appeal matter, appearing for the respondent, revisited the same dismissal, with the questions being whether the dismissal was wrongful and legally invalid, whether it was premature, whether there was any appealable error, and whether acting on the commitment document was done bona fide and did not amount to misconduct. A third matter, in the High Court and appearing for the defendant, concerned a 'penghakiman ingkar' (a default judgment) under Order 13 of the Rules of Court 2012 in a mixed claim seeking 'ganti rugi tidak berjumlah pasti' (unliquidated damages), specific performance and an injunction, engaging the entry of interlocutory judgment and the assessment of damages. The pairing of the review at first instance with the appeal that followed shows the same dismissal being examined twice over — once for whether the Industrial Court's decision could survive supervisory scrutiny, and again for whether the dismissal was premature and whether reliance on the commitment document was made in good faith rather than as misconduct. Across the appearances the practice combines the supervisory review of Industrial Court decisions in dismissal disputes with the mechanics of default judgment and the standards of natural justice that run through both administrative and civil procedure.