Alliance for Financial Inclusion Faces Legal Challenge Over Employee Dismissal Immunity
The Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), a nonprofit organization headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is currently involved in a legal dispute regarding the scope of its immunity from legal proceedings. In the case of Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) v Nazira binti Nasir, the Malaysian Court of Appeal examined whether AFI's status as an international organization granted it absolute immunity from an employee's unlawful dismissal claim. Nazira binti Nasir, AFI's former Manager of Human Resource, was dismissed in March 2021 and subsequently lodged a complaint with the Director General of Industrial Relations, leading to a referral to the Industrial Court. AFI attempted to strike out the claim, asserting immunity under the International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1992 (IOPIA). Both the Industrial Court and the High Court dismissed AFI's application, with the Court of Appeal ultimately upholding these decisions. The Court of Appeal ruled that AFI's immunity is functional, not a...
