Lawyers vs Mooters Fundraising and Charity Event 2013

INTERPART MOOT PROBLEM 2013

IN THE MOOT COURT OF UNIVERSITY TEKNOLOGI MARA

AT SHAH ALAM

(APPELLATE JURISDICTION)

Between

BEAST FRANKLYN​                     …APPELLANT

​                

And

THE MALAYSIAN ASSOCIATION

FOR AUTHORS AND JOURNALISTS.   ​                 …RESPONDENT

​    

Beast Fraklyn, 32, was a St Roque School of Journalism graduate, whose academic achievements was never short of excellent. It landed him a job as a journalist at Eggleston Co., a company renowned for its high profile publications.

Despite his impressive bulk, Beast had always been thought by many as an effeminate man, rendering him shunned and treated much like an outcast by some of his peers.However, initially Beast did not think much of it as he always had a healthy spirit of confidence and unswerving determination. More so, his superior regarded him as one of the best journalist Eggleston Co. has ever seen.

What Beast’s superior and peers did not know was, he was born with Gender Identification Disorder (GID), a condition in which one’s physical sex does not match the perceived sex of the individual. He had consciously struggled with this disorder since his childhood years but he tried not to take too much notice of it.

As years passed by, and being an accomplished journalist at Eggleston for almost five years, he could no longer conceal his inner struggle to be seen as a man although deep down he felt so ‘womanly’. Beast’s difficult battle had left him feeling depressed and distraught. His performance at Eggleston was nowhere near his previous accomplishments, leaving not only him but his superior worried and bewildered by his sudden lack of focus. Beast’s state of depression was a cause for concern, and seeing this his superior gave him one month leave of absence.

Besides that, in two months time, Beast was to be present at the most prestigious journalism award ceremony in Malaysia hosted by The Malaysian Association for Authors and Journalists (MAAJ). He was to receive the coveted “Malaysia’s Hot Journalist of 2013” for his highly acclaimed reporting skills.

His superior was very intent in preparing Beast (mentally and emotionally) for the award ceremony, as members of the public already knew that Beast was to receive the award.

It was during his leave of absence that Beast did the unthinkable ; he flew to Thailand to undergo a sex change operation. However, everyone was kept in the dark as to his intention to do so as he was sure that it would not in any way alter his stellar performance at Eggleston.

After the successful sex change operation, Beast resumed work at Eggleston. “Call me Beatrice. I am no longer a beast”, was the response that Beast gave when his people glared and stared at him.  

A week later, Beast was summoned to his superior's office. He was not prepared for the exchange that followed. He was informed that The Malaysian Association for Authors and Journalists had reached a unanimous decision in revoking the “Malaysia’s Hot Journalist of 2013” award, as Beast’s behaviour was deemed to be immoral and would disrupt the office's morale.

A few weeks later, Beast instituted a suit against The Malaysian Association for Authors and Journalists,claiming that the revocation of award by The Malaysian Association for Authors and Journalists, unlawful and unconstitutional as per Article 8(2) of the Federal  Constitution.

On a preliminary ruling, Ross J held that:

Article 8 did not include protection for transsexuals and stated further that "if the term 'sex' is to mean more than biological male or biological female, the new definition must come from the Parliament."

The trial court concluded further that The MalaysianAssociation for Authors and Journalists had not discriminated against Beast because he was a male or afemale, but because he was a transsexual -- "a biological male who takes female hormones, cross-dresses, and has surgically altered parts of her body to make it appear to be female."

Therefore, because Article 8 did not prohibit discrimination against transsexuals, the trial court entered judgment in favour of The Malaysian Association for Authors and Journalists.

Beast is left dissatisfied with the judgment delivered by Ross J in the trial court and now seeks to appeal to theUniversiti Teknologi Mara Moot Court.

Beast advances the position that he ought to have been kept on as the “Malaysia’s Hot Journalist of 2013” awardrecipient regardless of gender as he had and continues to have the necessary occupational experience, skills and knowledge to perform the duties required of a stellarEggleston journalist. 

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