Personal Statement of Mohd Ruzaini bin Zulkifli

(Malaysian Passport No.: H31643984)

My admission to Universiti Teknologi MARAs faculty of law is a most
significant event for me to date as it marked a major accomplishment in
my pursuit of knowledge. I completed both my Bachelor of Legal Studies
(Hons) and Bachelor of Laws (Hons) with a 2:1 and a CGPA of 3.18 and
3.21 respectively.
During my time in the university, I participated in the 2008 and 2009
Philip

C. Jessup

International Law Moot

Court

Competition

(Malaysia

National Rounds). In the same years of 2008 and 2009, I also participated
in the 3rd and 4th LAWASIA International Moot Competition. I also
participated in the 2009 Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Moot
(Malaysia National Rounds).
My participation in these tournaments, which issues in the competition
largely dealt with the issues of armed conflicts, criminal conduct giving
rise to gross violation of human rights in terms of economic, civil, social
and cultural rights, criminal responsibilities of the parties involved in the
conflicts, securing evidence to prove criminal conduct of the parties etc.
I graduated in 2011 and subsequently after undergoing pupillage for 9
months, I was admitted as an advocate & solicitor of the High Court of
Malaya in Malaysia on 20.7.2012.
In my active practice as an advocate & solicitor, I dabble in civil and
criminal litigation. Naturally, in my criminal practice, in addition to my
interest stated in the preceding two paragraphs above, I further develop
my interest in the various issues pertaining to criminal process, several of
which are:

a) The admission of evidence in the nature of information not

amounting to confession improperly obtained by police from a
person accused of an offence in the custody of police, which
information relates to the discovery of certain incriminating articles
against the accused.
b) To what extent the licentious manner of collection of evidence
impacts on the admissibility of such evidence in trial?; and
c) The effect of acquittal of a co-accused on a charge that carries an
element of common intention.
d) The probative value of evidence of mtDNA in establishing the
identity of perpetrator of a crime.
e) Does the exercise of the right to remain silent bar the accused
person to call other witnesses to give evidence on his behalf?
I encountered all these issues in my practice as a criminal bar practitioner
as well as in my casual reading of some cases. I have a close encounter of
issues (a) to (d) when I was involved in one of Malaysias most high profile
cases, Public Prosecutor v Azilah Hadri & Ors (Criminal Trial Nos: 46-32006 & 45-120-2006). Unfortunately, there is still no definitive resolution
as to the issues by the Malaysian judiciary.
A study of these issues led me to further develop specific interest in the
theoretical and practical dimensions in criminal process (first information
report/complaint, arrest, detention, investigation and prosecution) and the
penal system (sentencing, aims of punishment, execution of punishments,
alternative behavioural reformative resolution to traditional sentence,
public policy of sentencing)

My investigation to the issues listed above led me to several materials,

amongst the most notable:
i) Silence, Confessions And Improperly Obtained Evidence by Peter
Mirfield (Clarendon Press Oxford).
This scholarly work serves as a valuable material to understand
questions and issues relating to criminal justice which have
considerable significance on constitutionalism and constitutional
rights as well as the proper administration of criminal justice
system. This book is a great reference book.
ii) How Probabilities Reflect Evidence by James M. Joyce.
This short essay attempts to clarify the concept of evidential
probability by explaining how a persons subjective probabilities
reflect the persons total evidence in favour of any proposition. A
reading of this essay force one to engage in a critical and deductive
reasoning, in the terms of Sherlock Holmes.
iii) The Meaning of Corruption in Democracies by Mark E. Warren.
An essay to discover the meaning of corruption and an investigation
into why people resort to corruption and the effect of corruption on
democratic values.
iv) Governments & Crisis Powers: A Legal Study On The Use Of
Emergency Powers by Malaysian renowned appellate advocate, Dr
Cyrus V. Das (Current Law Journal).
A doctoral thesis of Dr Das for his PhD. The book studies the use of
emergency powers in Malaysia and its significance, effect and
impact on the issue of constitutionalism and constitution. A good

book to understand the history of emergency powers in Malaysia

and the Commonwealth and its use.
My inquiry of the above-mentioned issues prompts me to pursue this body
of knowledge at a university level. I did some research and later found
that the University of Nottingham offers and LLM in Criminal Justice. All
the 8 subjects provide opportunities for me to explore and understand the
dynamics of criminal justice and its administration, specifically, an
understating of:
a) The psychological theories associated with crime and criminal
behaviour;
b) The moral, cultural, political and philosophical foundations of the
concept of human rights and criminal justice system;
c) The

comparative

study

of

criminal

justice

in

different

jurisdiction/jurisprudence with an emphasis on issues, problems,

underlying principles and socio-legal perspectives; and
d) The effectiveness and/or disadvantages of different models of proof
in different jurisdiction/jurisprudence.
I cannot wait to imbue myself with the understanding.
I fully intend to specialise in criminal litigation, be it trial or appeal
process, in my practice as an advocate & solicitor. In my short stint as a
criminal law practitioner, I notice that most people, those finding
themselves in trouble with the law or lawyers trying to get them out of the
mess, more often than not refuse to address the many apparent and
obvious violations of rights and procedures put in place against abuse of
police powers. It is all the more frustrating when you have lawyers who
are

unaware

or

outright

indifferent

towards

the

concept

of

constitutionalism, rule of law and proper administration of criminal justice

system. This nonchalant attitude must go.
To change the attitude, in the long run, I would want to advocate for an
establishment of a Centre for Criminal Justice and Criminology in Malaysia.
This Centre should be a close co-operation between all quarters involve in
the criminal justice system, i.e. the academia, the Malaysian Bar (the
Malaysian legal fraternity), the Attorney-Generals Chambers, the police
and other enforcement agencies and the judiciary. The Centre should
undertake a constant study to promote general understanding on:
i)

Theories of crime and criminal behaviour and patterns;

ii)

Alternative approach to reformative process;

iii)

The exercise of police powers within constitutional limit

iv) Measures to safeguard against transgression of constitutionalism

and democratic values
Especially for items (iii) and (iv), the Centre should be given freedom to
criticise, if need be, and to propose practical resolutions to better improve
the criminal justice system.
To that end, I am committed to learn and gain knowledge from the course
in Criminal Justice. I hope armed with the knowledge collated from the
LLM Criminal Justice course, I can do something to bring about a change in
paradigm or better still, a mental revolution as to the general populaces
attitude on the criminal justice system.