The million-dollar question: Will Richard Malanjum stay on as CJ?

PETALING JAYA: Chief Justice Tan Sri Richard Malanjum (pic), due to retire on April 12, has avoided the question on whether he will stay on in the role.

“That’s the million-dollar question,” he said.

When asked if the government was being pressured into appointing a Malay Muslim as the next Chief Justice (CJ), Malanjum said it was the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s prerogative on who would be appointed.

“That is the prerogative of the King, on advice of course. I don’t have the prerogative.

“The appointment is by the King. We leave it as it is,” he said after the launch of the book “Our Constitution” by constitutional law expert and The Star columnist Emeritus Prof Datuk Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi of Universiti Malaya (UM) on Wednesday (March 20).

During Malanjum’s speech at the book launch, he said the biggest challenge to the judiciary is realising that the basic foundation of the Constitution is the rule of law and not being “ruled by the law”.

“I hope that judges continue to keep the Constitution alive. The biggest challenge is to keep in mind all the time that the basic foundation of our Constitution is the rule of law, not ruled by law.

"It is quite sad when colleagues say that the law is just to follow it without realising that that piece of legislation might be contradictory to the spirit of the rule of law and that should be remembered all the time by judges when they read the constitution. 

That is the premise of the rule of law and not rule by law. I think that is very important for us to remember and that's how we keep democracy alive in this country".

“That should actually be remembered all the time by judges when they read the Constitution,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Shad said that he hoped his book would improve the nation’s constitutional literacy.

He lamented the fact that 61 years into independence, the Constitution still has not become the compass and anchor of the nation’s endeavours.

“The Constitution is the guardian of our rights and the source of our freedoms.

“I hope and pray that its roots will grow deeper, that with the support of the people and the commitment of the judiciary, the Constitution’s imperatives will one day become the aspirations of all Malaysians,” he said.

Also present at the launch were Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Datuk David Wong Dak Wah, UM Faculty of Law Dean Datuk associate professor Dr Johan Shamsuddin Sabaruddin, book publisher Thomson Reuters Asia country head Girish Kamat, as well as numerous Federal Court and Court of Appeal judges.

The book can be purchased for RM50 at Marsden Law Books, Joshua Legal Art Gallery, and Kinokuniya and MPH bookstores. -Star