Hands Off Her Phone! Court Says Schools Can Seize Devices But Cannot Search Them

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The Kuala Terengganu High Court has upheld the dismissal of a RM400,000 lawsuit by a former student over a body search and the seizure of her mobile phone during an SPM trial exam in 2020.

Judicial Commissioner Yusrin Faidz Yusoff dismissed Nur Nabilah Ahmad Zambala’s appeal – the suit named two teachers, a school principal and the government, and claimed negligence and defamation.

Yusrin ruled that the school was entitled to confiscate the phone.

However, he said the school had no authority under Education Ministry guidelines or its examination regulations to inspect the phone’s contents.

He said lawful possession of evidence “does not automatically confer the authority to access its digital contents”.

Despite this, he held that the procedural breaches did not amount to negligence. He found that the teacher had acted reasonably in investigating the cheating allegations.

The incident took place on 25 Oct 2020 at SMK Sura in Dungun, Terengganu, during the Sains Rumah Tangga trial paper.

Teachers conducted a spot check after receiving complaints that Nabilah had cheated, according to Malay Mail.

The Vibes reported that a gold iPhone 6 was found hidden in her underwear.

Checks on the phone uncovered notes, exam questions and answer schemes for several subjects.

The school gave her a score of 1% in several subjects, in line with exam regulations, Malay Mail reported.

Nabilah, now 23, filed the suit through her father. She sought RM300,000 for emotional trauma and RM100,000 for defamation.

The Kuala Terengganu Sessions Court dismissed the suit in March and ordered her to pay RM10,000 in costs to the defendants, MustShareNews reported.

The Sessions Court judge noted that she said she kept the phone in her underwear because she feared it would go missing if left outside the hall, according to SAYS.

The judge also questioned how she obtained trial exam papers and answer schemes for several subjects a year in advance.

Yusrin also said that identifying the source of the leaked papers was a more serious issue than her having a phone in the exam hall.

Courts have also ruled on suits by students against teachers and schools this year.

In August, the Kota Bharu High Court ordered a retired history teacher to pay RM88,069 in damages to a former student.

The court found that the teacher had slapped the then 14-year-old four times during a lesson in 2019. It also found that he owed his students a duty of care.

The student had also named the school principal, the Education director-general and the government as defendants.

READ MORE: Teacher Sues Ain & Father For Defamation Over “Rape Joke” Controversy

READ MORE: Teacher Pleads Not Guilty To Three Counts Of Sexually Assaulting Her Student

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