SO NOW YOU ARE THE “OKT” (Accused Person): Facing your Charges.
Owen Jones (1867) Examples of Chinese ornament. London : S & T Gilbert. Philadelphia Museum of Art https://archive.org/details/philadelphiamuseumofart (all images in this article from the same source)
The Investigating Officer (IO) requested your attendance at his office within short notice. Your blood pressure has shot through the roof, you cannot eat, you spend hours replying countless whatsapp messages from people acquainted with your case – most of them with unhelpful comments or questions that lead nowhere except more anxiety.
You imagine what will happen to your good name, your family’s reputation, your business network, the perception of the banks, your colleagues. You have assured them for weeks that you are cooperating with the investigation and that you are innocent. But now you have got wind that you will be charged!
Do not give up! Life doesn’t end when you are charged.
Do not despair.
Here are some tips for the person being tested with the ominous burden of being an OKT (Orang Kena Tuduh):
1. Periksa, semak dan selidik. Scrutinise the source of your information that claims that you will be charged. If your case involves a lot of money or some high net worth victims, suspects or interest groups, be careful that extra pressure will be on this case from the expected or even expected persons. The person that is telling you that you will be charged may have an interest in you being in a state of fear. Because some predatory type people see an opportunity to manipulate and make money from people (i.e. to make money out of you, or the complainant, or out of something else) who are in a state of fear.
2. Manage your Emotions. It is OK and natural to be fearful of being charged. I’m not going to give you a soft landing – the reality is your life can change after being charged. Such is the power of the Public Prosecutor – they can charge you even if they did not read thoroughly the investigation papers (“IP”) or if they relied fully on what the IO said verbally or over the phoneI don’t want to scare you, it can happen. But it is almost a given that the Public Prosecutor is deemed to have studied the IP cover to cover and after rigourous discussion, had decided to file charges against you in good faith in accordance with the law and internal directives. Of course, good prosecutors are trained to study IPs and not to take the word of the IO. But prosecutors are like any other profession – lawyers, mechanics, doctors, engineers, fishermen – they are human and they vary in experience, competence and motivation. Departmentally, the Attorney General’s Chambers and specifically the Prosecution Division or other prosecution-related units within agencies or departments, abide by a code of ethics to make their decision to charge you or not to charge you in accordance with two factors
a. Law and Evidence; and
b. Public Interest.
Public Interest means that even if the evidence is strong against you, there may be compelling policy reasons not to file charges, or to withdraw charges already filed. Public Interest also can mean that even if the evidence is weak, you can still be charged. Philosophically, that could be the significance of discretion – if the Public Prosecutor charges every case that lands on their desk which ticks all the boxes of evidence, then that would be robotic and not discretion. And indeed, when you are facing a charge, you have to be realistic to manage the road ahead and you could benefit from some philosophy to help manage your emotions – this is no joke – you need to take hold of your life, your reality, and manage it; because many people who get charged and their families, just cannot accept that they were accused of a criminal offence.
3. Avoid knee-jerk reactions. Always think and consult a lawyer before you do anything related to the case. Importantly, choose the right sort of lawyer. You have the right to a second opinion, too.
4. Refrain from social media or other public reactions and comments. People in the public limelight such as politicians and celebrities like to make comments upon being charged – that is understandable. Again, you should run your proposed announcement through your lawyer before proceeding.
5. Be careful about bad legal advice. There are a lot of fake legal experts out there. People who think they know insiders in the police headquarters or people who think they have been through the process a few times. Remember, no one is responsible for good legal advice except yourself. I mentioned above and I say it again, when a case involves a lot of money or some public interest, predatory individuals and groups will be quick to sniff the scent of money or glory and make a beeline to your phone number. Unless the person is a qualified, licensed criminal defence practitioner, i.e. a person professionally entitled to receive payment for legal advice, then they have no business advising you. Only a qualified and licensed legal practitioner is responsible for the advice they give you. You can complain to the Disciplinary Board (a body related to the Bar Council, which oversees the conduct of lawyers), for negligence in providing legal advice. These people are not responsible for the “legal advice” they provide to you, and you rely on their “legal advice” at your own risk and peril:
a. Investigating Officers, DPPs, judges and any other member of the judicial and legal service. But officers of Jabatan Bantuan Guaman do provide free legal advice and I believe they are responsible for what they advise.
b. Any other police officer, including your cousin or aunt
c. Your neighbour’s uncle who mainly handles conveyancing matters but enjoys crime detective novels
d. Your classmate who was a former DPP (even for an impressively short time) but now works in-house at an oil-and-gas corporation
e. A runner, broker, tout, middleman, even if they dress and speak bombastically like an expert criminal lawyer who can guarantee you will not be charged in court.
f. A receiver of bribes to settle your son’s case, no matter how desperate you are or how strongly you believe your son is innocent.
g. An expert criminologist who regularly appears on television and public events
h. A private investigator. However, a licensed investigator does have a duty of care under the law and the terms of their license. But they do not give legal advice.
i. A famous politician or religious celebrity, unless they are licensed practitioners who have been appointed by you.
j. A counsellor
k. A person who writes blogs on law (like myself here, unless you appoint me as your lawyer).
6. Find a lawyer who fulfils these characteristics:
a. A licensed practitioner. Call 03-2050 2050 (Malaysian Bar Council) and connect with “Membership Department” to double check whether someone is actually a lawyer with a valid practicing certificate.
b. Practices criminal law. All lawyers are assumed to be competent with the law but just like surgeons, aviators and chemical engineers, there are experts in a given field. Lawyers are actually not allowed to call themselves experts in an area of law.
c. Practices criminal law concerned with your type of case. Don’t bother asking how many cases of a particular type they have handled successfully (“how many cases have you won?”). You can, but unless you yourself are a field expert, you would unlikely be able to make sense of the answer meaningfully. In fact you could feel free to inquire further on claims that a lawyer has never lost a case. I’ll take notes too, probably next to you. The most realistic feedback you could consider meaningfully is whether they handle certain type of cases. Certain types of cases are not handled by all, for example, commercial crimes, corruption, money laundering, computer crimes, securities offences. These can be said to be more specialist oriented. However, just because a type of case has some “branding” does not mean it is necessarily more difficult or technical. Some cases became more technical over the decades only because of the death penalty and because of the urban legend that the field was partly funded by syndicates — specifically drug trafficking and not even murder (which tend to be unsyndicated). Some cases involve much technicality and are challenging but did not quite develop jurisprudentially because the clientele were not always of the financially capable sort (e.g. sexual offences against children; but of course this does not mean that rich people never commit offences against children). As a result, fewer [good] lawyers were motivated to test the law, and where there are less appeals, there are less reported judgments to develop and clarify the law. Thus the supply of specialist lawyers is shaped by the market, which is in turn shaped by the profitability of such case (berbaloi or not for a good, capable lawyer to invest time and opportunity cost), difficulty and applicability of death sentence and minimum jail sentence. I don’t mean to sound rude, but cases that are mainly populated by the poor (sexual cases, kes pukul, lower end drugs and theft cases for example) are often the least developed jurisprudentially (unless they involve civil servants or celebrities), for the above reason, and as a result you don’t need the most specialised lawyers to handle them — please do not misunderstand me, this is not because you don’t need a good lawyer for kes pukul or kes curi but it is because “general crime” does not really develop a specialised skill set for the criminal lawyer. There are actually some very competent and experienced lawyers out there who “specialise” in cases of rape, molest and pornography but they don’t really promote themselves for obvious reasons. The reality is that some cases need not only trial experience but negotiating skill as well. There are lawyers who make a living doing plead guilty cases only and mitigating sentence (let’s call them “PG lawyers”). You can see them in action every day in the lower courts of certain districts— they are pros in mitigation, bail and sometimes remand too. Their words are like sharp darts, concise and rehearsed because they have practiced the typical memorised phrases to perfection. But I would not rely on them for trial, and they themselves do not sustain their business model on time-consuming trials. In fact, I have been referred cases because the first lawyer did not handle trials. I can’t tell you whether a PG lawyer is best suited for your case but chances are they are the least expensive — because their scope of work encompasses that stage of pleading guilty and sentencing only. However, their business model means their advice is skewed to making PG attractive or unavoidable to you. Furthermore, it goes without saying that just like many other professions, you get what you pay for, and you pay for what you get. You can’t expect the same level of service across such a diverse market and profession. Finally, from my point of view, an unfortunate bottleneck is in the field of securities offences because the cases are populated by clients with more financial capability but the number of lawyers willing and capable are a relatively small pool; this is partly because only one small agency (small as in physical size and number of offices, it does not reflect their great capabilities, talent and contribution to society), the Securities Commission and to an extent, Bursa Malaysia, are the regulators. As a result, there is less “competition” among lawyers — the number of securities cases is small to start with. As a result, the number of decided securities offence cases remains small ; trials also take a long time to create those court judgements needed to develop the law and the market. I’m being careful with my words above; I do not imply that less “competition” in this context means the legal services are of lower quality, in fact there are some really good lawyers handling securities cases. What I mean by competition is, the market is less exposed to the wider profession and therefore the potential client suffers from less choice of counsel. Contrast with, say, general crime where every district would likely have a resident generalist defence counsel practically setting up shop in the court building.
7. In relation to a lawyer, don’t worry too much about these aspects:
a. For remand or the date of charge, it is OK for most lawyers to appear for you. You do not need an ultra-veteran of criminal defence to appear for these stages. Of course, when your charges are numerous, involve issues on bail and that sort, it would be good to have one, but it is not necessary in many (perhaps most cases). It is common for a more experienced trial lawyer to take over from a temporary lawyer whom you appointed just for the remand or charge. The reason for this is because often you may not have enough time to find a specialist counsel because the IO gave short notice of the charge (or zero notice, for those who “kutip” you in the early hours from your home or from your office or off the street).
b. It is OK for a YBGK (National Legal Aid Foundation) lawyer to handle the remand and charge for you if there is one on duty and if you absolutely cannot find a lawyer. Find does not mean the same thing as pay.
c. If you do not have a lawyer or intentionally delay from appointing one, here are possible effects:
i. The Magistrate or Registrar will just allow any application for remand asked by the police, because you are not trained to oppose an application for extension of remand.
ii. A trial court hearing the charge may impose a bail “offered” by the prosecutor. Although courts would always listen to an unrepresented person’s bail “mitigation” (mitigation is a common borrowed word, it is a term used for sentencing, though), you would not benefit from a proper presentation of your “mitigation” factors to reduce the amount of bail or a relaxation of the imposed terms. I know this because I have seen it and because clients have appointed me for trial, with interestingly high amount of bail. To be fair, I have seen situations where the Magistrate seems to be disinterested in whatever we have to say and will just impose the order as a routine and mechanical (“unthinking” could be an inelegant term, if accurate at all) act.
iii. A lawyer could pick up some points you missed and bring it to the court’s attention, because you are not trained to do so. For example, to call to the court’s attention your health condition in detention, that there were prior dates of detention (this is for remand), issues relating to your sureties, and in domestic violence cases, in relation to the protection order. Some courts do issue such protection orders on the date of charge, some issue later only if the IO or complainant applies for it; often the bail terms include a term like “dilarang daripada mendekati pengadu” anyway.
8. Why would a person facing a charge delay from appointing a lawyer? Some possibilities, which should not apply to you, hopefully:
a. The lawyer of your choice is too busy with other cases or not interested to take up your matter. This can be because he is conflicted somehow, or perhaps he has too personal a relationship with you. There is nothing wrong with a personal friend handling your bail or remand, because they are the most accessible. But personal friends may prefer not to handle your trial. Most lawyer friends do not mind remaining your confidant on the sidelines though. Please do not ask your lawyer to call your lawyer-friend or vice versa, unless it is your lawyer-friend who introduced this lawyer to you. This is because you would be placing both of them in a position that is (often) unhelpful to your case, even if it would make you feel better. You should not need to second-guess the services provided by the lawyer you paid and appointed to defend you. But you do have the right to a second opinion, which is something else.
b. You are broke and can’t pay for a lawyer. There are broadly 3 types of “broke”:
i. People who have a steady income and assets, have the usual debt-to-income ratio like the rest of us, but come up with ingenious reasons not to pay their lawyer.
ii. People who have no money for real, really poor people. For such individuals, there is help in the form of legal aid:
1. Yayasan Bantuan Guaman Kebangsaan (YBGK) handle trials. Contrary to what some clients informed me, their job is not to simply tell accused persons to plead guilty. I have handled full trials and proper appeals under YBGK, it is a great institution that helps level the playing field for the poor.
2. Court Assigned Cases. The Court does appoint experienced lawyers to handle death penalty trials and appeals only. This is presently my favourite type of legal aid because I enjoy helping the poor against difficult cases, under auspices of the court appointment of course.
3. Jabatan Bantuan Guaman. This is the rebranded and restructured “Biro Bantuan Guaman”. You can visit their website – their scope of work is wide, but for criminal matters it is very limited unless you are going to plead guilty or are a young person (pesalah muda).
4. Bar Council Legal Aid Committee. Operationally they share the same roof as YBGK and they offer good service.
5. NGOs. The best support are for domestic violence cases from women or child related NGOs like Women’s Centre for Change and Women’s Aid Organisation. Their contact numbers are at the front page of this blog.
6. Private law firms. Some law firms do provide legal aid now and then. Me and my lawyer colleagues have been hosting eight Free Legal Aid Clinics since 2015 for free, serving over 50 clients. We have also provided legal aid (trial and appeal) for deserving cases. I believe you would be expected to prepare for disbursements at the very least.
c. You are trying to bribe the complainant or police to settle the case, whether directly or through someone who claims to be able to settle it for you. There are legal ways to settle a criminal matter provided by law. Being untrained in law, you may not realise this or you may not be able to distinguish the legal versus unlawful method. A couple years back I (unsuccessfully) handled an appeal on behalf of someone accused of trying to bribe a complainant to withdraw a report for sexual harassment.
d. The IO said you do not need a lawyer, because if you appoint one, he or she will impose a heavier term of bail or jail sentence on you. Unless you appoint the lawyer friend of the IO, from whom the lawyer pays a cut out of your legal fees.
e. You are blur, “buntu”, do not know what to do. You should snap out of it and talk to a lawyer immediately. Your indecision can potentially cost you, your family, your company and your reputation dearly.
9. Prepare for the Charge itself.
a. Call the IO and ask what you will be charged for, the number of charges and the location of the court. Do not assume that the charge will be under the same section as the section that your were “arrested for”. Sometimes the IO will just tell you to come to the IPD or Balai and not share details with you.
b. Tell the IO that you will come to court on your own. But many IOs will want you to report to the Balai first at 8.00am purportedly to record a further statement or whatever. This discussion is an opportunity for you to negotiate so that you won’t be arrested again. If the IO insists you to come to the IPD or Balai, you might as well play along. You can still be arrested even if the IO says you will not be.
c. Eat, drink etc. before going to court or surrendering yourself to the police. You do not know when is the next time you can see food or water. Do not assume you will get the food on time, even though there are regulations to such effect.
d. Very important: If you have medication to take or other medical aspects (asthma, etc) please inform the IO or whomever is arresting you, and the court as well. So far the police have always allowed my clients’ families to deliver medicine, more leniently than food or articles of clothing (especially slippers).
e. You would need to surrender your phone, so pass it to a trusted relative or friend before going in. Most likely if the IO needs to seize your phone, they would have done so at the investigation stage. The IO should not need to seize your phone twice. There are procedures for getting your phone back, but if the police require it for investigation (e.g. submitted to the forensics lab) then there is generally nothing you can do about it until they are done with your phone.
f. Prepare some money for court bail and prepare bailors (known as sureties or penjamin). I have explained in other writings here on the role and duties of bailors. Some cases are bailable and some are not. So have a bailor ready and one more on standby. They should be Malaysian citizens, not bankrupts, and some courts have rejected bailors who are civil servants (I saw this happen in Kajang because the proposed bailor was an officer in the MACC). The courts have always accepted the spouse of my clients as bailors, but in 2022, one judge rejected the spouse as bailor, saying from the bench that “how do we know that the wife can control the husband?”. So my client desperately contacted his sister in law to stand in. In another case several years back, my client from the East Coast was asked by the IO to appear at IPD Ampang to record further statement. Of course, it was a trick and no statement was recorded, instead my client was arrested. Since she did not know she was going to be charged, she was not prepared with a lawyer nor a bailor (penjamin). Fortunately, a lawyer friend of mine was in court and helped the client. She obtained the assistance of the canteen staff to be the bailor (“abang kantin”), as an interim measure. When I took over the trial, I applied for the client’s father to be substituted as bailor in place of the abang kantin.
g. Related to the above, how much bail money to prepare for? You should consult a lawyer about this. If you have no lawyer that morning, try to speak to the DPP on duty and negotiate. Although bail is the decision of the court and not the DPP, the court would almost always consult the DPP on the bail terms. The DPP is not bound to entertain you, though many would because they are swell folk. I mentioned earlier in this writing about my observation of high bail for certain cases I took over; I would also mention that in one MACC trial I handled, my client (unrepresented at charge stage) negotiated with the DPP and was offered an acceptable bail figure.
h. Expect the court to require you to surrender your passport, especially for commercial crimes cases involving lots of money. From my observation, courts do not require passports for general crimes or drugs, but that is just my own observation. In 2022, the lawyer representing a co-accused in one of my cases agreed to surrender his passport. Unfortunately, the court was not informed that this co-accused had lost his passport. Still, the court allowed this co-accused to be released on bail with an undertaking to produce the relevant documentation from the Immigration Department the following day. This is up to the court – I suspect there are courts that would not provide such indulgence.
i. Check with your employer (perhaps discreetly, with the right people in the organization) on the effect of a criminal charge on your service record. In one year, I had 2 clients from the same department, charged under the same section, for different cases. Both were rank and file. One was suspended and then dismissed from service. The other kept his job and full pay. The latter was the driver of his ketua jabatan. So even within the same service, 2 personnel may be treated differently when charged in court. Importantly, study the difference between the effect of DNAA (dilepaskan tanpa dibebaskan) versus acquittal (dilepaskan dan dibebaskan). Ask your department if they recognise the difference. Some clients still faced trouble from their office even when their cases were DNAA, because the courts (well I can speak for Raub court) does not issue formal orders for DNAA and it is only recorded in the court minute sheet. The client faced bureaucratic delays on processing his service so that his full pay and arrears were returned.
10. On the morning of the Charge.
a. Pray and dress your best. Bright colours (not neon green or hot red). Show confidence and hold your head up high. Adjust accordingly if appearing poorer benefits you – not just for the court of justice but for the court of public opinion (if that matters to you). Please advise your family, bailor or supporters to dress formally to court. No jeans and no slippers. Some courts are hot and stuffy, some are airconditioned and cold.
b. If you are arrested then you can’t really choose your dress for charge day. So when you are arrested, perhaps, if you can, make sure you are arrested in nice clothes.
c. Big breakfast and bathroom break.
d. The IO should register your charge before 10.00am. Your relatives can track your case on the “efs.kehakiman” website but they will need to know your case number. If they do not, they can check all the Magistrate and Sessions Courts for your name one by one, but in my humble opinion, the name-index is uploaded less reliably compared to the case-number-index.
e. Be in Court early like 8.00 am or 8.30am. Since you are first timer, it may take a long time to locate your court room. Your court room for charge may likely differ from the room in which remand proceedings were conducted.
f. There may be media at the court entrance, if they consider your cases important enough. Sometimes they photograph accused as the police bring them out the police van, sometimes they photograph accused as they leave the court after charge. I do not know what is the specific practice of cloth covering the handcuffs or covering the face, but it happens. Handcuffs is for arrest cases and no handcuffs for summons cases. Handcuffs should apply for cases where it is believed you will abscond or are violent. However the police routinely handcuff people even if they surrender themselves or are zero flight risk. In the courtroom, you can inform the court that the handcuffs are hurting you or that your skin is reacting against the alloy of the handcuffs, but I do not know whether or how the court will really act. In the court room you may not be handcuffed, or handcuffed alone or chained together with other accused persons.
g. If you are under arrest, you will be placed in the court lockup and called up when it is your turn. The time you will be called up depends on the court, its schedule, logistics of police escort, covid-19 precautions and late-filing of charges by the IO, among other things. If you are not called up by say 11 or 11.30, your relative or friend should ask the court staff what’s going on, because I have heard of a case where they “forgot”.
h. Either the police staff (Polis Mahkamah) or court interpreter (Jurubahasa Mahkamah) will be in the court room first. Introduce yourself politely and ask around. Because you are early, you need not rush. They have means to check on your case and will inform you generally on the charge procedure and bail process. Some of them are cheerful and courteous, some are moody and grumpy. Speak to them in BM regardless what ethnicity you think they appear to be.
i. If you are charged, the IO is unlikely to be present. In the days of manual filing of charges, the IO would attend personally because they need to file the charge sheets by hand and have it ink-stamped with a case number at the criminal cases registry, and they have to ensure your physical attendance in court. These days I do not see the IO being present. However I still see IO for agencies such as MACC and SC attending. At this stage though, they can’t do anything for you because the charge has been decided by the Public Prosecutor.
j. You can still chat with your family members when you are brought up to court. You will be placed in the dock, or kandang tertuduh, an enclosure made of wood railings. With permission from the police staff, your relatives can pass you water and notes. It tends to be easier to do this if you have a lawyer because only a lawyer can walk up and down the aisle freely and even into the lawyers’ sitting area.
11. I have discussed the charge, making a plea, and other aspects in other writings in this blog.
12. Your lawyer and your bailors and relatives should take note of your case number immediately. You can get this case number from the Jurubahasa, from the case listing pasted outside the court room, or in the efs.kehakiman system.
13. After the Charge.
a. Your bailor shall approach the court staff and be advised. In Kuala Lumpur Court, the staff will advise the bailor to head straight down to level B1 at the Pendaftaran Jenayah next to the Maybank branch. Some court staff would issue a small slip to present to the bank.
b. Inform the court registry staff of your name, case number, court, judge’s name (sometimes?), number of charges, date of charge (i.e. that same day). All this time, you will be in the court lockup or sometimes you are permitted to wait in the courtroom, handcuffed or otherwise.
c. Your bailor shall fill some forms. They would be asked to arrange for payment of bail money by opening an account with the nearest bank, or through the e-jamin app. If you need to use the bank, ask the court staff which bank is always used for such transactions. The nearest banks are often experienced with such bail arrangements.
d. Your bailor needs to open a special bank account under their name specifically for the purpose of holding bail money. The money can originate from any source, even someone who is not the bailor. The bail money will be returned in full at the conclusion of the case, whether you win or not and whether a fine is imposed or not. A fine does not set off against bail money because the former is imposed on you whereas the latter is considered money belonging to the bailor.
e. E-jamin works differently but you need to set up an account and answer a questionnaire.
f. The bailor has to line up at least twice. During peak hours (around 11.30 to 1.30) there is quite a bit of lining up indeed.
g. As at the date of this writing, the Kuala Lumpur court counter for bail application processes closes at 4.00 pm, likewise the adjacent Maybank branch. However I have witnessed bail processes being done even after that time period. Better you check.
h. Once you get the bail order, your bailor needs to process the bail immediately with no delay. Every minute counts and this cannot be understated. I had an Alor Gajah matter some years back. My client was charged on a Friday of all days. Friday is short day for obvious reasons. The client’s father was short on money and desperately phoned friends for cash injections. He procured the funds and processed payment. Everything was concluded at 4.00 pm. Unfortunately, due to a blunder somewhere, the police truck had taken the client away early because, we were told, the truck had to go to other locations as well and had to be back in Melaka prison by a certain time. Being Friday, the client could only be retrieved from Melaka prison on the following Monday. All this even though the court had ordered him to be released on bail and his bailor had completed the bail process.
i. The lawyer’s job is done for this stage, your lawyer will not wait with your family as they process the bail and secure your release. Most lawyers anyway.
j. After the bail process, you would be released at a particular location depending on the court building. Ask the court staff or police about this place. At Kuala Lumpur Court, the accused is brought to that Pejabat Pendafteran Jenayah at level B1, where a court staff will call the accused and bailor to the counter and read out a set of instructions so that both parties are reminded of their duties and responsibilities for complying with conditions of bail.
k. If you fail to raise the bail amount, then you will remain under detention. The terms of bail ordered by the court remains, but you can be released only when payment is made. There are several ways to do this. It can be by way of OTP (order to produce) where you are brought to the court and released. Or you are released from prison or other designated detention centre.
l. If the terms of bail is too high or stringent, please consult a criminal defence attorney about revision.
m. It is possible to apply for variation of bail terms and even the same court can vary the terms after a sufficient period has lapsed – this has been my experience and not a rule of law specifically. For example, if say the case has been going on for a year and the client has attended at the Balai obediently every month and never disturbed any witnesses and kept his nose clean, perhaps your lawyer can raise this with the court and ask for the terms to be relaxed from one Balai visit per month to one Balai visit every 2 months or to be deleted outright. If you need your passport (for renewal or travel) you can apply for temporary release of passport, probably subject to additional orders by the court.
One last tip — In cases where the Complainant / victim has or previously had a personal, social or professional relationship with the Accused, I would recommend the Accused or their immediate relatives to control themselves in social media. Avoid being seen as celebrating, overly happy, boozing, clubbing or headbanging. Just behave like adults — I know you understand what I mean. Or at least hold it off until ‘kes dah sejuk sikit’ i.e. after the initial fanfare of arrest and charge has subsided. Sentiment remains a big part of our law enforcement culture, including the usual lament of “why is the perpetrator going on with his life as usual while I am here alone suffering with my trauma; the police and courts are so slow, what’s wrong are they bribed or what?”. One stinging letter from the public to the right head of department can unexpectedly accelerate your case to uncomfortable speed. So the saying goes “Justice Hurried is Justice Buried” in response to the “Justice Delayed…” catchphrase. So hold off your desire to “move on with your life as a matter of principle”. No. Refrain yourself and be civilised about it.
14. General Do’s and Don’ts for an Accused Person
a. DO:
i. Work, live your life normally, attend public functions, get married, vote in elections, study, do business, travel for holidays (subject to passport restrictions)
ii. Consult your lawyer, assist in investigations if required -- of course, get your lawyer’s advice on this because the investigations should have concluded prior to the decision to charge.
iii. Get your lawyer’s advice on how to identify and obtain evidence relevant to your defence.
b. DON’T:
i. Do not do any of the above in item i. if it breaches one of the terms of bail.
ii. Do not make any defamatory, sub judice or other unlawful statements in a press conference or in social media or even private communications.
iii. Do not bribe any police officers or prosecutors or judges or witnesses.
iv. Do not destroy evidence or invent fake evidence.
v. Do not intimidate witnesses or complainants or victims.
vi. Do not attempt to marry the victim. Get legal advice at least.
vii. Avoid making social media posts about your case or which is critical of the case or the complainant even if they are not in your list of contacts.
viii. Do not brazenly approach the complainant or their family to settle the case. Consult a lawyer about the lawful methods for satisfactory disposal of case.
c. OPTIONAL:
i. You can make factual, generic statements about what happened in your case. Just avoid commentary. Check with your lawyer please.
ii. You can sue the complainant, the police, or other parties under the relevant headings of tort or other law. Consult your lawyer please.
iii. You may write letters of representation to the Deputy Public Prosecutor, or even write complaints against the police to their superiors. Again, consult a lawyer because this may or may not be beneficial and could even be counterproductive or distracting.
iv. If you live or work near the complainant, a charge does not mean that you have to move house or change jobs. The bail terms is what you need to manage, not the ego or sensitivities of yourself or the complainant.
v. If you do move house, it is advisable but not mandatory to inform the IO. Most important is you have to attend court and fill in the Buku Kehadiran that you take home after charge.
vi. You can engage in business and sell your property. If you are charged under anti-money laundering offence or facing seizure or forfeiture action under the anti-money laundering laws or forfeiture of property laws, consult a lawyer because some of them have powerful claw-back mechanisms especially for properties you acquired after receiving the impugned property.