Ex-judge calls for proper selection, another wants an RCI

Following the Court of Appeal judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer's stunning revelation in an affidavit this week about alleged judicial misconduct, a former High Court judge has stressed the importance of selecting judges with integrity.

Another former judge supports the calls for the formation of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to look into the alleged judicial interference.

Former High Court judge Syed Ahmad Idid Syed Ahmad believes the present top four judges in the judiciary are committed to their work and that the judiciary is headed in the straight path.

However, he stresses the need for a proper selection of judges with integrity.

He said the selection of judges is very important to ensure integrity in the judiciary so that it can mete out good and fair judgments all the time.

"The selection of judges is paramount to any desire for true justice. Muslims opine that only a quarter of judges may get to heaven.

"The power to do justice is given by the Almighty but weak humans easily succumb to worldly riches and so these judges go haywire," Syed Ahmad Idid told Malaysiakini when contacted.

He recalled the criteria he had listed for choosing a good judge when he spoke during a Malaysian law conference in 2003.

"Integrity is the top criterion. Hundred percent honesty and the fear of God. The person must be brave to go against the rising tide where the public may have one view and the law has another," he said.

"Judges must never be corrupt or succumb under any pressure to any party. They must also know how to make decisions after collecting the facts."

He also said judges should master the art of writing judgments without fear or favour.

"If you just take a person from somewhere and appoint him or her as judge, it is not the correct way. You must thoroughly vet the person and see his family.

"While parentage may give a person a good personality...it is the character that finally sets the judge apart."

Syed Ahmad Idid had first revealed the problems plaguing the judiciary way back in the 1990s, for which he paid a heavy price - he was unceremoniously removed.

He authored a book, Writing of judgments : A practical guide for courts and tribunals.

In 2008, DAP leader Lim Kit Siang had called for compensation to be paid to Syed Ahmad Idid following his sudden removal. He reiterated this call in 2015.

When asked on his opinion on the current batch of new top judges, Syed Ahmad Idid said the present Chief Justice (Richard Malanjum) and the other top three have plans to keep the judiciary on the straight and narrow path.

"But then all other judges must have the same will and prowess to dispense justice at all costs," he said.

Former Court of Appeal judge and Judicial Appointments Commission member Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus (photo, above) supports the call for an RCI.

"In my view, there must be closure to the issues raised by the judge (Hamid Sultan). Perhaps an RCI may be a good idea," he told Malaysiakini when contacted.

Hamid Sultan in his affidavit in support of Sangeet Kaur Deo's application has made several shocking revelations, including the call for an RCI when he revealed that the Court of Appeal bench in the Karpal Singh's case was forced by a senior judge to uphold the guilty verdict when they initially wanted to acquit the late politician of sedition in 2016.

He also alleged judicial misconduct, claiming that the current batch of Federal Court judges are tainted.

Several quarters have called for protection for Hamid Sultan following the revelation.

Sangeet herself had called on the government and judiciary to act on the revelations. - Mkini