Judiciary to honour Salleh Abas at Palace of Justice

 

Former lord president Salleh Abas, who died in January last year, will be remembered at a reference proceeding according to the traditions of the legal fraternity. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: The judiciary will hold a reference proceeding on Wednesday to honour former lord president Salleh Abas who passed away last year.

In a media notice issued last week, the Federal Court chief registrar’s office said the event will begin at 8am. However, other details of the programme have yet to be released.

This solemn and meaningful time-honoured tradition, unique to the legal profession, is held in remembrance of departed members of the legal fraternity.

Salleh, who hails from Kampung Raja, Besut, in Terengganu, died on Jan 16, 2021 at the Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital in Kuala Terengganu, two days after testing positive for Covid-19. He was 91.

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He served as lord president of the Federal Court from 1984 to 1988. The office has since been renamed to chief justice.

Prior to that, Salleh served as a magistrate and later deputy public prosecutor at the attorney-general’s chambers. He went on to become the country’s solicitor-general in 1963.

Salleh was later appointed a Federal Court judge and took over the post of Chief Judge of Malaya in 1982 from the late Raja Azlan Shah (later Sultan Azlan Shah of Perak and the ninth Yang di-Pertuan Agong) who had been appointed the lord president.

Fighting to preserve the independence of the judiciary, Salleh suffered the ignominy of being removed as lord president, together with five Federal Court judges, in 1988, when Dr Mahathir Mohamad was prime minister, triggering a constitutional crisis.

He later moved briefly to politics, winning the Jerteh state seat in Terengganu on a PAS ticket at the 1999 general election and held the post of state executive councillor when PAS came into power.

After quitting politics, Salleh practised as a lawyer and appeared frequently in the Federal Court and the Court of Appeal.

This marks the second time a reference proceeding will be held at the Palace of Justice, the first being for the late Sultan Azlan Shah on Nov 20, 2014. The ruler passed away at the age of 86 on May 28, 2014. - FMT