The prime minister of Malaysia should no longer appoint members of the nation’s Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC), said the chair of the Malay Rulers Conference, earlier today.
In his opening speech, the Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir, highlighted that the appointment process of judges in Malaysia has weaknesses, and as such, should be improved.
“The JAC plays a key role by suggesting candidates for the appointment of judges. The composition of the JAC is critical in ensuring it is able to provide the names of judges who have credibility and integrity,” said Tuanku Muhriz.
He added that at present, the JAC has nine members – four of them being senior serving judges, while the other five were appointed by the prime minister.
“To ensure that the JAC is free to carry out its responsibility, I suggest that the appointment of the five JAC members is not done by the prime minister.
“Instead, the appointments should be done by other institutions like the Malaysian Bar, Sabah Law Society, Advocates Association of Sarawak, and Parliament’s Committee of Selection,” he added.
He said this would ensure that the composition of the JAC would be “more balanced” and “would not favour the interests of any party”.
Tuanku Muhriz also suggested that the structure of the commission is re-evaluated through discussions between the government, existing JAC members, legal bodies, and other relevant stakeholders.
“If all this is done, I believe the JAC would be able to carry out its role effectively and will ensure that the appointment of judges in Malaysia is honourable, transparent, and fair.”
Tuanku Muhriz said this today, on the second day of the 260th meeting of the Malay Rulers Conference at Istana Negara in Kuala Lumpur.
Among those who attended today’s meeting were the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, Raja of Perlis Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin, Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah, Sultan of Kedah Al Aminul Karim Sultan Sallehuddin Sultan Badlishah, and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The integrity of the judiciary had come under scrutiny in recent years. In 2019, then Court of Appeal judge Datuk Dr Hamid Sultan Abu Backer alleged collusion between certain top judges and lawyers to win cases filed against the government.
In June 2020, former Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali, made a damning allegation, implicating that a senior lawyer was able “to arrange for a magistrate” to issue the remand order to arrest ex-prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
In July 2020, Chief Justice Tan Sri Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, said there were also certain quarters that were giving the impression that judges were involved in corruption, and urged those with information to lodge reports with the Malaysian-Anti Corruption Commission, rather than making wild accusations on social media.
Main image by Information Department of Malaysia.
