JAC didn’t name 3 for top judge’s posts, says report

 

The appointments of (from left) Richard Malanjum, Ahmad Maarop and David Wong were not made on the recommendation of the Judicial Appointments Commission, says a government report.

PETALING JAYA: The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) did not recommend appointing Richard Malanjum as chief justice, Ahmad Maarop as Court of Appeal president, and David Wong as chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak in July 2018, says a government report.

A special task force noted that then attorney-general (AG) Tommy Thomas and then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had agreed on the trio’s appointments, as well as Zaharah Ibrahim as chief judge of Malaya, according to the former AG’s memoir.

This followed the resignation of Raus Sharif as chief justice (CJ) and Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin as Court of Appeal president in June 2018.

In its declassified report, the task force pointed out that the JAC had recommended appointing Azahar Mohamed, the current Chief Judge of Malaya, as CJ instead of Malanjum.

The JAC had also suggested appointing Rohana Yusuf as Court of Appeal president, the post she holds now, and Abdul Rahman Sebli as chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak.

“If the prime minister disagreed with this selection, he should have requested more names for each of the vacant judicial positions. There is no evidence before the task force that he had made such a request,” the task force said.

“Instead, from the report of the Cabinet, Constitution and Intergovernmental Relations Division, the names submitted by the prime minister when he tendered his advice to the King under Article 122B were the names discussed and agreed upon between (Mahathir) and (Thomas).”

Breach of the Federal Constitution

The task force also said Mahathir breached the Federal Constitution in appointing Wong as chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak, as Mahathir had failed to consult the chief ministers of Sabah and Sarawak beforehand as required by the Federal Constitution.

The committee added that this was a “glaring omission” when the then Sabah and Sarawak chief ministers had confirmed being consulted on Abang Iskandar Hashim’s appointment to the same post in 2019.

“The failure to consult the two chief ministers on Wong’s appointment as Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak is a violation of the constitution which, clearly, Thomas as the AG then had not advised the prime minister to comply with,” it said.

Report calls for restriction on PM’s role

The task force suggested amending the JAC Act to ban the prime minister from advising the King to appoint anyone to judicial offices in the superior courts, if the appointee was not selected by the JAC.

It also proposed that the four eminent persons in the JAC should be appointed by the King instead of the prime minister in order to ensure continued judicial independence.

The JAC comprises nine members – four top judicial administrators led by the chief justice, as well as a senior Federal Court judge and four other eminent persons, who are currently appointed by the prime minister. - FMT