It was a rough start for the defence team as the former prime minister discharged members of the new legal team from Zaid Ibrahim Suflan TH Liew & Partners.

Gerard Lourdesamy : Hisyam Teh Poh Teik 's conduct is bordering on contempt in the face of the court. He is being disrespectful, obstinate and insolent towards the Federal Court bench. For such a senior lawyer his behaviour has been appalling. I have been practice close to 30 years, and never have I seen any counsel behaving in such a manner before the apex court. The Bar Council ought to lodge a complaint against him with the Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board for professional misconduct.

I can see where he is going with this. Since he refuses to make any submission either oral or written, the Federal Court will be forced to make a decision based entirely on the petition of appeal, the appeal records and the previous submissions of the appellant's lawyers in the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

The prosecution have made both written and oral submissions before the court. If the Federal Court dismisses the appeal and affirms the conviction and sentence of the lower courts, I am certain that Najib's lawyers will almost immediately file a motion under Rule 137 of the Federal Court Rules 1995 to set aside the decision of this panel of the Federal Court on the basis that there was a fundamental breach of natural justice on the grounds of bias and the failure to give Najib a fair hearing.

That motion will have to be heard by a different panel of the Federal Court. In the interim, Najib's lawyers would seek a stay of execution of his conviction and sentence. While in theory this option may work but in practice it would not because the current panel is not going to stay their decision being a final decision of the apex court in a criminal appeal while Najib's lawyers file a review application.

A review application is not another level or tier of appeal. Therefore, the issue of a stay does not arise and it is not permitted in law. Najib would have to be taken into custody and be confined to prison while the review application is heard and disposed of by another panel of the court. And again there is no guarantee that another differently constituted panel of the Federal Court is going to set aside the decision of the current panel on the basis of an egregious miscarraige of justice.

In a case like this, where the Federal Court has justified their decisions to refuse the admission of the fresh evidence, the request for an adjournment of 3 to 4 months and the application of counsel to discharge and withdraw from the case, based on the law and the facts, and after giving Najib's counsel every opportunity to participate in the hearing by way of oral and written submissions, it is very unlikely that a strong and convincing case can be made out for a review of the decision of this panel of the Federal Court with a view towards setting it aside and having the appeal heard afresh before another panel of the Federal Court.

Not only would this be a gross abuse of process but more importantly it would erode public confidence in the judiciary and undermine the administration of justice. To me it seems like in order to avoid the dreadful day of judgment, Najib and his supporters are prepared to launch a full frontal attack on the judiciary and destroy the institution. We do not want a repeat of the constitutional crisis of 1988 where the then Lord President and 5 judges of the then Supreme Court were sacked.

The time has come for the people to rise up and defend the Constitution and the judiciary. The prime minister and government including the Attorney General must take a firm stand on this, as well as Parliament, together with the Bar Council and civil society. The country's institutions should not be allowed to be destroyed simply in order to protect one man from going to prison for the crimes he has committed.