Set up committee to review JAC Act, says Sarawak lawyers’ group

 

Advocates Association of Sarawak president Gurvir Singh Sandhu said urgent steps needed to be taken to review the issue objectively. (The Malaysian Judiciary pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

A lawyer’s body has called for a committee, which would also comprise stakeholders, to be established to review the 16-year-old Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) Act and ensure that judicial independence is strengthened.

The Advocates Association of Sarawak said while there had been a lot of discussions about reviewing the law, not much had been done.

“If the government is serious about this matter, urgent steps have to be taken to review the issue objectively and to outline the necessary amendments to the Act to prevent potential or real abuse,” the association’s president, Gurvir Singh Sandhu said in a statement.

His statement came in response to lawyers at the Malaysian Bar’s annual general meeting who unanimously passed a motion to condemn any interference in judicial appointments as provided in the Federal Constitution and the JAC Act.

It also urged the government to establish an independent commission of inquiry to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation following Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat’s speech at the opening of the legal year in January.

At the opening of the legal year, Tengku Maimun had said judicial independence must be protected at all costs and that external interference in the appointment or promotion of judges was unacceptable.

Her remarks were widely interpreted within the legal fraternity as referring to appointments that might have been made outside the proper constitutional and statutory framework.

The top judge said no person, whether it be the president of the Malaysian Bar, any advocate or solicitor, any political party, the attorney-general or any other person had any business recommending names to the prime minister for appointments.

Yesterday, the Sabah Law Society also came out in support of the position taken by the Bar.

Gurvir said Tengku Maimun’s speech alluded to the controversy over judicial appointments in recent years, including the appointment of Justice Hasnah Hashim last November as Chief Judge of Malaya after the position was left vacant for nine months.

“At this juncture, it is important for the Judicial Appointments Commission to clear the air on what has transpired over the years and address whether there has been an erosion in their functions,” he said.

Gurvir said his association also supported a call by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim that there must be checks and balances on the judiciary.

“This is an area of reform that the government should consider as well,” he said, adding that the gatekeeper’s role should not be played by the prime minister alone.

Addressing delegates at the 18th DAP Congress in Shah Alam on Sunday, Anwar reiterated the government’s firm commitment not to interfere in any decisions involving the judiciary. - FMT