15 Jul TEOH MENG KEE V PUBLIC PROSECUTOR [2014] 5 MLJ 741
Court of Appeal, Putrajaya
Parties to the Suit:
Appellant: Teoh Meng Kee
Respondent: Public Prosecutor
Case Type: Criminal Appeal
Overview of the case:
The case of Teoh Meng Kee v Public Prosecutor arose from a criminal appeal concerning the death of Teoh Beng Hock, who was found dead after a fall from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) office in Shah Alam. The case began as an inquiry (inquest) into the cause of death by a Magistrate. The Magistrate concluded the inquiry with an open verdict, a finding that the cause of death could not be determined. This decision was later upheld by the High Court.
The appellant, Teoh Meng Kee, appealed to the Court of Appeal to challenge this verdict. The central legal issue brought before the Court of Appeal was the standard of proof that should be applied in a death inquiry. The lower courts had applied the criminal standard of “beyond reasonable doubt,” but the appellant argued that the correct standard was the lower civil standard of the “balance of probabilities.”
The Court of Appeal unanimously held that the Magistrate and the High Court had erred in applying the incorrect standard of proof. The court found that because an inquiry is a fact-finding process rather than a criminal trial, the correct standard of proof to be applied is the balance of probabilities. Based on this standard, the Court of Appeal determined that the evidence did not support a finding of suicide or misadventure. Consequently, the Court of Appeal set aside the open verdict and substituted it with a verdict of “death caused by a person or persons unknown.”
The judgment in this case clarified the legal principles governing death inquiries in Malaysia, particularly the standard of proof required, and had significant public interest due to the circumstances of the death.