What Muhyiddin’s name change means for our legislature

Chan Quin Er

In April, the Shah Alam High Court ruled in favour of a Sabahan who was arrested last year for allegedly distributing drugs on a writ of habeas corpus, citing among other reasons, the fact that the name the minister used to sign the detention order – Tan Sri Muhyiddin Mohd Yassin – was invalid.

From the outset, the case was already difficult in the first place due to a lack of possible grounds for judicial review. There is already a tendency of the courts to defer to the government in cases involving detention, the deprivation of liberty and other issues of national security.