Malaysian Court of Appeals Upholds High Court Judge Decision on Lynas TOL

The Court of Appeals of Malaysia had upheld a decision by a High Court judge wherein the latter ruled that the opposing residents to the presence of the rare earths processing plant of Australian miner Lynas Corp in Kuantan should first appeal to the proper venue before bringing the matter to the High Chambers.

On February, Gebeng residents filed a case against Lynas Corp., as well as an application for leave for judicial review, over the temporary operating licence (TOL) it received from the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) and the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (Mosti), issued end of January.

High Court Judge Justice Rohana Yusuf, who presided over the case, ruled in April that the objections raised against the leave application should have been appealed to the minister, not at the High Chambers.

This ruling was upheld by the court on Monday.

Justice Ramly Ali, who chaired the panel, ruled that the High Court was entitled to insist that the residents should exhaust the internal remedy to appeal to Mosti over the issuance of a TOL, online news portal www.thestar.com.my reported.

"The Court of Appeal here Monday held that the panel was not persuaded that trial judge Justice Rohana Yusof had erred in her ruling at the Kuala Lumpur High Court," it said.

Justice Yusuf's earlier decision was mainly prompted when she learned that five other persons have lodged an appeal to the Mosti minister. She claimed this must be given due deference.

"In my considered view, the appeal process that is taking place had to be given effect because it is process provided by the statute. It is a more suitable and appropriate forum to discuss matters highly technical in nature," she said in April.

Last week, the Australian rare earths miner had finally received the highly contested TOL that would fuel the start its long overdue $US800-million ($810 million) rare earths processing plant in Malaysia.