Be apolitical in interpreting the constitution, CJ tells judges

 

Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat wants judges to understand their judicial role and be trusted to carry them out faithfully.

KUALA LUMPUR: Though judges must remain apolitical, when it comes to interpreting the Federal Constitution, they must also have regard to the political and social context in which it was drafted, Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said.

This is because judicial decisions were subject to public confidence in the judiciary, she added.

“Judges must therefore understand their judicial role and be trusted to carry them out faithfully,” the top judge said in a special address via Zoom today.

Her speech was in conjunction with the 12th Tun Suffian Memorial Lecture “Reflections & Lessons of a Constitutional Judge – Decision Making, Law & Politics, Legitimacy and Acceptance”.

The speaker for this year’s event was Dieter Grimm, a former Justice of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany.

Tengku Maimun said to an extent, the role of a judge in constitutional adjudication might seem paradoxical to some.

“This is because the philosophy behind the notion of judging is that a judge must remain apolitical and free from bias or interference.

That said, a judge must remain apolitical, but cannot afford to ignore politics. Therein lies the paradox to the mind that fails to comprehend the difference behind politics and political context,” she added.

Tengku Maimun said the Federal Court, for example, had in 2018 affirmed in the Indira Gandhi case that the constitution must be interpreted in light of its historical and philosophical context.

In ruling that any conversion of non-Muslim children under 18 to Islam must have the consent of both parents, the case reiterated the supremacy of the written constitution. - FMT