The High Court has been informed that the ongoing US$1.18 billion civil suit brought by SRC International Sdn Bhd against former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should not be conflated with his earlier criminal case involving the same company.
Najib’s lead counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, stressed that criminal and civil proceedings operate under entirely different standards of proof. He explained that in a criminal trial, guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, while in civil proceedings, disputes are resolved on the balance of probabilities.
According to him, if one party in a civil case intends to rely on findings from a criminal court, it must present additional supporting material that strengthens or aligns with the earlier judgment. He noted that the civil court has the discretion to consider or disregard the criminal court’s decision depending on the relevance and corroboration of available evidence.
Shafee elaborated that in criminal trials, defense teams routinely challenge documents that could implicate the accused. However, in civil trials, he said the approach differs, as objections often arise when documents lack authenticity or clear provenance, which could ultimately affect the fairness and finality of the decision.
The submissions were made during proceedings in SRC’s civil action against Najib and the company’s former chief executive, Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, who remains unaccounted for. Filed in 2021, the lawsuit concerns a RM4 billion loan obtained by SRC from the Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) in two separate disbursements between 2011 and 2012.
Najib is currently serving his sentence in Kajang Prison after being convicted for the misappropriation of RM42 million from SRC International, a separate but related matter. While his criminal conviction has already been determined, the above arguments underline the point that civil liability will be tested under a distinct legal framework, requiring the court to independently assess the evidence before reaching a conclusion.
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