The Attorney-General's Chambers almost always notify the court that they would appeal after losing a criminal trial, said former attorney-general Mohd Apandi Ali.

"This is done based on the long practice of the prosecution in this country to be 99 percent sure it can secure a conviction before proffering a criminal charge," he said in a statement last night.

He said the process was "almost automatic" since the time Abu Talib Othman was attorney-general (1980-1993).

The filing of a notice for appeal would be done even before the grounds of judgement has been given.

"After filing such a notice, the AGC will normally study the grounds of judgement given by the trial judge, and then decide whether to proceed or not with the appeal," he said.

He said this was how the AGC was apolitical and any prosecution was based strictly on the facts and the law.

"That is why the AGC adopted the motto 'Steadfast in upholding justice' since 2016," he said. Apandi was appointed attorney-general in July 2015.

Apandi was commenting on his successor Tommy Thomas' claim that he was "shocked" that the AGC filed the notice of appeal in the criminal trial against PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli.

Tommy had claimed that he had instructed the AGC not to do so in the event that the appeal was lost.

In February, Rafizi was convicted by the High Court and sentenced to 30-months jail for breaching bank secrecy laws in 2012. At the time, the attorney-general was Abdul Gani Patail.

This sentence was overturned at the Court of Appeal on Nov 15.

Rafizi had claimed that the charges against him were politically motivated and because of his role in exposing the National Feedlot Corporation scandal in 2012.