Idrus now a member of JAC

Former attorney-general Idrus Harun has been appointed as a member of the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) beginning this month.

Quoting a source, Free Malaysia Today reported that apart from Idrus - retired Federal Court judge Zainun Ali, former Sarawak attorney-general Talat Mahmood Abdul Rashid and Universiti Teknologi Mara legal adviser Hartini Saripan had also been selected to sit on the commission.

The appointments were made by the prime minister and are for a two-year period.

“Their appointments will see the JAC resuming its monthly meetings next month.

“The committee has been unable to perform its functions since September because of a lack of quorum,” the source was reported as saying.

The JAC is tasked with selecting suitable candidates to sit as judges in the superior courts – the Federal Court, the Court of Appeal and the High Courts.

Before their appointment, JAC only had four out of nine of its positions filled since September consisting of chairperson Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, Court of Appeal president Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, and Chief Justice of Sabah and Sarawak Abdul Rahman Sebli and senior Federal Court judge Nallini Pathmanathan.

The situation put the commission in limbo as Sections 13(4) and (5) of the JAC Act 2009 state that the quorum for a meeting is seven including the chairperson, but in the event of the disqualification of members, the quorum shall be reduced to a minimum of five. - Mkini