Malek's appointment as Appeal Court President - first bright spot in 15 years

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Abdul Malekï¿½s appointment as Court of Appeal president will be the first bright spot in more than 15 years in the bleak and desolate scene of the justice system which will be greeted with unalloyed joy by the legal fraternity and civil society

Media Conference Statement
- after the opening the DAP Ipoh Timor parliamentary constituency service centre
by Lim Kit Siang

(Ipoh, Saturday): The appointment of Federal Court judge Datuk Abdul Malek Ahmad as Court of Appeal president will be the first bright spot in more than 15 years in the bleak and desolate scene of the justice system which will be greeted with unalloyed joy by the legal fraternity and the civil society.

New Straits Times reported exclusively yesterday that the Conference of Rulers had endorsed Abdul Malekï¿½s appointment as the Court of Appeal president.

It speaks volumes for Abdul Malekï¿½s ability, solidity, integrity, qualities and reputation as a judge and the depths plumbed by the system of justice for more than one-and-a-half decades that such a yet-to-be-confirmed report could have the effect of lifting the hopes and spirits of all Malaysians concerned about the restoration of a truly independent judiciary and a just rule of law in the country.

If confirmed, it is hoped that Malekï¿½s appointment as the Court of Appeal President will mark the first step of a long, hard and uphill journey to restore national and international confidence in the justice system in the country, until it has reached the stage where its reputation for a truly independent judiciary and just rule of law will again be unbesmirched and unquestioned.

If Malaysia is to embark on such a journey to fully restore national and international confidence in a just rule of law and a truly independent judiciary, systemic institutional reforms in the system of justice is necessary, for example, in the appointment and promotion of judges.

Other ï¿½First Worldï¿½ countries have introduced structural judicial reforms and developed mechanisms to ensure greater judicial accountability and transparency with regard to the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary ï¿½ such as the appointment of judges.

Malaysia urgently needs a more transparent process of judicial appointment to ensure that the justice administered by the judges is of superior quality because they are professionally qualified, persons of integrity and good character, independent and courageous.

The present system, where the judicial appointments are decided by two persons, the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice, is most unsatisfactory. The flaws of the present judicial appointment process includes:

Selection and appointment procedure not transparent;

Consultative process is secretive; and

There is a lack of appraisal of the candidates against pre-determined criteria

Many Commonweath countries have carried out reforms to modernise their system of justice as in the introduction of transparency and competition in the judicial appointment process.

Malaysia can benefit from the reforms introduced by some of these countries. Canada for instance has established a Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee in each province, comprising judicial and legal representatives and non-lawyers. Judicial appointments are confined to those approved as suitable for appointment by the committee.

In New Zealand, in response to criticism that the judiciary was remote and unrepresentative of the community, a Judicial Appointments Board was established comprising representatives from the bench and bar and lay members which makes a recommendation on judicial appointment once a vacancy occurs. The Board advertises the judicial position and reviews all applications. A ranked list of at least two candidates is then given to the Attorney-General, who makes the final recommendation to the Governor-General.

In 1997, the United Kingdom defined and made public the criteria against which candidates for judicial appointment would be judged and the selection process by which they would be appointed.

With so many countries which have carried out reforms in the modernisation of their system of justice, including the system of judicial appointments, there should be no lack of reference materials for Malaysia to undertake its own reforms of our justice system ï¿½ another step to transform Malaysia into a nation with ï¿½First World Infrastructure, First World Mentality and Cultureï¿½.

(29/5/2004)

* Lim Kit Siang, Parliamentary Opposition Leader, Member of Parliament for Ipoh Timor & DAP National Chairman