Bar maintains right to speak openly at OLY event

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Bar says it holds firm to the right to speak openly without being censored, including at the annual Opening of the Legal Year (OLY) ceremonial proceedings recently where the customary speech of its president was removed.

Its president, George Varughese, said the office of Chief Justice (CJ) Raus Sharif had indicated to him that he should not in his speech mention the controversial appointments of Raus and Court of Appeal president Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin as additional judges last year.

The appointments had enabled them to continue holding their positions despite having been scheduled to retire on Aug 3 and Sept 27 respectively, upon reaching the mandatory retirement age.

He said the Bar hoped that the CJ would revert to the customary proceedings in the future, and acknowledge “in principle and spoken word” the roles of the Bar and the Attorney-General’s Chambers as equal partners with the judiciary in the administration of justice.

He said since the inception of the OLY in 2010, the Bar president had used the occasion to reflect upon and highlight significant developments in relation to the rule of law and the administration of justice that had taken place over the preceding year.

He said the president would also look ahead, speaking about the visions and aspirations of the Bar for the new legal year.

“The unconstitutional and unprecedented manner in which the appointments were made is of such great significance and consequence that deliberately omitting to address it in a speech that would provide an overview of a whole range of issues relating to the rule of law was not an option,” he said.

“Although the Bar’s legal challenge in respect of the unconstitutional appointments is pending in the courts, it does not preclude the president of the Bar from speaking about the appointments without getting into the merits of the case,” he said in a statement.

The format of the OLY ceremony was changed to exclude speeches by both Varughese and Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali.

Varughese said the Bar had, as a matter of principle, declined the invitation to attend the OLY ceremony. He added that the invitation to him had not been withdrawn.

He added that the CJ’s office had never before sought to impose any restrictions on the contents of the Bar president’s speech.

“On this occasion, however, the unprecedented attempt to interfere in the president’s speech was nothing less than an assault on the independence of the Malaysian Bar. This is wholly unacceptable,” he said.

Raus had earlier said that since Varughese’s speech was excluded, he had informed Apandi that it was not necessary for him to speak as it would look awkward.

Raus said if the Bar was allowed to raise the matter on the appointments, Apandi would have had to respond, which would have put the judiciary in a difficult position.

“Whether the format will be retained next year, God knows. We will see what happens,” he said.

Breaking with tradition, the Bar held its own OLY at a private club in Kuala Lumpur. -FMT