Chief Magistrate Pengiran Hajah Norismayanti binti Pengiran Haji Ismail yesterday delivered a decisive interpretation of Section 34, Chapter 148 of the Public Order Act (POA) in a case against a local woman charged with sounding a false alarm.
Hajah Faizah binti Haji Abdul Gapar is charged with disseminating of a false statement likely to cause public alarm.
Parties focused on whether mens rea, or the mental element of a crime, extends to the knowledge of the falsity of the statement.
The defendant, represented by Pengiran Shahyzul bin Pengiran Haji Abdul Rahman off messrs LZ Hussain and Co, contested that mens rea required proof that the disseminated statement is false and likely to cause public alarm. Deputy Public Prosecutor PP Raihan Nabilah Ahmad Ghazali argued that the prosecution only needs to prove the defendant’s intention that the false statement was likely to cause alarm.
The court’s analysed legal precedents, scrutinising the wording of Section 34 of the POA, emphasising the absence of an explicit requirement for the offender to have knowledge of the falsity of the statement. The Chief Magistrate examined the legislative intent behind the provision and considered societal concerns related to public order and safety. The ruling highlighted comparisons with Section 35, Chapter 148 of the POA, which explicitly outlines mens rea requirements for public mischief.
The Chief Magistrate decided that the mens rea requirement in Section 34 of the POA pertains solely to the accused’s awareness that the false information is likely to cause alarm, and rejects the defence’s argument that knowledge of the falsehood itself is required.
The court then invited the defendant to enter defence. The defence party requested for the court to affirm its ruling to the High Court, who in turn will make its ruling on the request tomorrow. – Fadley Faisal
