Equality of Arms in Criminal Justice

Equality Of Arms The principle of equality of arms is classified as a sub-principle of fairness, whereby the accuser and the accused must be treated equally before the law. This approach is clearly endorsed in various instruments of international tribunals, and is reflected in the right to legal counsel at the expense of the Tribunal where the accused is indigent, the presumption of innocence and the requirement that guilt must be proven beyond reasonable doubt. The International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (“ICCPR”) is one of the most important instruments that codifies civil and human rights including the right to a fair trial, in which, has been adopted by most countries of the world and Malaysia, being a member of the United Nations should make this ICCPR as part of our law. As could be observed the right to “equality of arms” is enshrined in the ICCPR and these rights include four fundamental fair trial principles: All parties, including the defendant, must have an equal opportunity to present evidence and arguments before the court; No party to the proceedings should benefit from a substantive advantage over the other; All persons must have access to fair and effective remedies; Everyone […] read more

What You Must Know About Police Report!

How Important Is A Police Report? Lodging police report is a simple thing, but, not that simple! Many times people complained that police did not act on reports lodged by them. The blame was on the police, not themselves. This is not correct. Of course, there are times police did failed or neglected to act on a report for various reasons. There are certain conditions a police report needs to comply with if you want a police report to be acted upon by the police. The police report must be lodged at a police station, in actual fact, at any police station and it is an offence for any police officer to obstruct a person from lodging a police report. The police could not just simply refuse to take your report. In law, the police report has to be lodged to the police officer in charge of the police station concerned, but, in practice, there are always police officers, usually a corporal to record the police report. If given orally, it must be reduced in writing in a book called, Report Book, and this book is kept by the officer in charge of the station. Sometimes, police officers who are […] read more

“I am divorcing my husband. Can I get his share of matrimonial property?”

“I am divorcing my husband. Can I get his share of matrimonial property?” Fighting For Matrimonial Home In Husband’s Name During Divorce Proceedings In divorce proceedings, competent and experienced lawyers are able to assist women to fight for a share of matrimonial assets acquired during marriage. Even if the property has been registered in the name of the husband, this does not mean that a divorced wife could not have a share in the said property. The court has power to order division of matrimonial assets under section 76(3) of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 in respect of assets acquired during the marriage by the sole effort of one party or proceeds from the sale of such assets. Further, section 76(1) of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976, inter alia, gives power of the court to order division of any assets acquired during the marriage by their joint effort, or the proceeds from the sale of such assets. So women, it is not the end of the road for you to have a share of the properties acquired during the marriage even though they could be registered in the name of your husband alone. What Is Taken Into Consideration? For division of property, the court is empowered under […] read more

Have you been maliciously prosecuted in Court?

“It Was Malicious Prosecution! See you in Court!” Sitting in a coffeeshop, a man who was seen very angry told his friends who were having some drinks with him that he wanted to sue the police officer who brought embarrassment to him by bringing him to court after both argued over a parking space. This man said, “I wanted to park at the parking space, suddenly the police officer, who at that time was not in uniform, stopped my car from parking my car at the parking space. I only came to know he was a police officer after he handcuffed me in the presence of wife. There was a big curious crowd at that time and I was very embarrassed and helpless.” One of his friends sitting with him then asked, “Why not you say that he had no authority to stop you.” “How can I?” the man replied, “He was a police officer! The police officer said he had reserved the parking space for his girlfriend who would be coming on the way soon! Another friend after some vulgar words by him said “You must teach this police officer a lesson! He had abused his power!” The friend […] read more

20 Tips to Increase the Success of Your Home Loan’s Application

Update: Corrected the formula for Net Income calculations. Credit to www.propertywtf.com Loan’s application declined to RM45.26bil from RM47bil! The Bank Negara had showed on their website that loan approvals’ percentage for residential properties in the country declined to 46.8% in the first half of this year from 50.1% during the same period in 2011. While the application for loans for residential properties purchases increased by 2.9% but the actual loans approved during the six-month period declined to RM45.26bil from RM47bil in the same period in 2011. This is evident when our clients have to resort to different banks when they buy their properties and this prolonged the property transactions period. Why declined and how it is assessed? One of the reasons for the increasing numbers of bank loan disapproval is because of the recent change of policy by Bank Negara to use Net Income instead of Gross Income of borrowers in approving loans. From our recent meeting with a local bank manager on this policy, he explained that if a person: Has a salary/total income of RM3,000.00 a month (after deductions of EPF and SOCSO) Has a car commitment of RM500.00 a month Other commitments of RM1,000.00 a month (house, […] read more

Do you have a Will? If not, we tell you why you need one!

This article is contributed by Nicole Yeoh, in chambers of Voonslegal. Why you need a Will? You may often hear people asking “Hey! Do you have a Will?” And the immediateresponse would be “Why I need a Will?”, “I am fit and healthy now. I do not need one at the moment. I am not rich and so I do not need to write a Will.” The conversation may not stop there. In present days, there are many people out there who do not know the importance and the need of making a Will. Some may think that it is a taboo to make a Will. The advice is, no matter whether you are rich or poor a Will is a very important document to protect your estate and to ensure that your property shall not fall into the hands of those whom you don’t want to benefit. Then, what is a Will? Under the Wills Act 1959, a Will is a declaration that states and shows the intention and instructions of a testator to give legal effect to his property or other matters which he desires to be carried into effect after his death. Upon death, the property of […] read more