KUALA LUMPUR: The position of English in the country is at its lowest ebb, and it may now be the time to include it as the second official language.

Fresh from having his case thrown out of the Court of Appeal because the appeal was not drafted in Bahasa Malaysia, Karpal Singh (Bukit Gelugor-DAP) said English needed to regain its rightful place in proceedings in courts.

"Because English is denied its place in our courts, foreign investors now resort to arbitration instead of referring disputes to courts in the country," said Karpal in parliament lobby today.

"This is not a step in the right direction as it reflects the loss of confidence in the judiciary."

On Wednesday, Justice Abdul Malek Ishak set a new precedent when he dismissed Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's appeal against former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for defamation because his appeal was not drafted in the national language.

Anwar had sued Dr Mahathir on Jan 27, 2006 for allegedly portraying him as a man with no morals and who was dangerous to Malaysia.

In dismissing Anwar's appeal, Abdul Malek said that Rule 101 of the Rules of the Court of Appeal 1994 stated that documents shall be in the national language.

Abdul Malik said several laws stated that all proceedings (other than the giving of evidence by a witness) in the Federal Court, Court of Appeal, the High Court or any subordinate court shall be in Bahasa Malaysia.

"There is no doubt that Article 152 of the Federal Constitution, read with Section 8 of the National Language Act 1963/1967 gives Bahasa Malaysia its pride of place in the country," said Karpal.

"However, it cannot be denied that courts are bestowed with the inherent jurisdiction to ensure that justice is not denied to litigants," he added.

The veteran lawyer said that in the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Federal Court proceedings, points of submissions and arguments were still done in English.

"This is a necessity as most law reports are essentially in English. The time has not come to completely eradicate the use of the language in courts.

"The position is further compounded as English has gained recognition as the language of commerce internationally," he added.

According to Karpal, it was also ironic for Abdul Malek, who dismissed the case on the technicality, to have written his 30-page judgment in English.

"I would have thought there was more than a need for him to have written his judgment in Bahasa Malaysia in view of the strong language he uses in support of it," said Karpal.