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Who is the PM's Chief Judge of Malaya?

The controversy started after Straits Times Singapore reported August 9 that the the Conference of Rulers (Majlis Raja-Raja) had made a rare ruling by rejecting the PM's nominated candidate to fill the post of Chief Judge of Malaya, which was left vacant by Siti Norma Yaakob who retired in January.

Thus far, the Abdullah Administration has yet to confirm or deny the Singapore newspaper's story.

'Capable and suitable'... and endorsed?

Meanwhile, August 22, the New Straits Times quoted a "highly-placed source" as saying that a "capable and suitable" Federal Court judge had been endorsed as a possible candidate for the post as the country’s third-most senior judicial officer.

Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim has been acting as the Chief Judge of Malaysia all this while.

However, Bar Council chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan said that under the Courts of Judicature Act 1964, Ahmad Fairuz could not be the chief justice and the chief judge of Malaya at the same time.

"The chief justice must designate another Federal Court judge other than himself as the chief judge," Ambiga said.

Earlier this month, Ahmad Fairuz said the vacancy would be filled by the end of the month.

'Judge failed to deliver written judgment in 33 cases'

Today, August 23, the NST reported that the Court of Appeal registry’s records revealed that a former High Court judge did not write grounds of judgment in 33 criminal and civil cases.

The backlog included three criminal cases in Seremban which carried the death penalty.

The judge presided over the cases while serving at the High Court there five years ago. The rest are civil cases in which he made rulings while there and in Kuala Lumpur between 1999 and 2002.

It is understood that the litigants in all 33 cases had filed notices of appeal against decisions by the judge who is now sitting in the Federal Court.

Karpal Singh questioned CJ

Meanwhile, lawyer Karpal Singh questioned the basis on which Ahmad Fairuz had promoted former High Court judge Tengku Baharuddin Shah Tengku Mahmud to the Court of Appeal.

"A delay of nine years and three months with the grounds of judgment not supplied is more cause for Ahmad Fairuz to spring into action" he said.

On Monday, former fish and vegetable vendor Baha Jambol who is on Death Row for dadah trafficking, filed an action in the Court of Appeal to free him or set aside the conviction of the High Court. Tengku Baharuddin had sentenced Baha to death on April 26, 1998.

Karpal also urged acting Court of Appeal president Alauddin Mohd Sheriff to review all pending appeals where there had been a delay in delivering grounds of judgment. This will help expedite submissions of the written judgments.

Now, the red herrings

The Bar Council is disturbed by remarks made by the Chief Justice questioning the need to use English common law after 50 years of independence and seeking its abolition. "It is an issue that has been raised before in 2004, and now that it has resurfaced, some explanation is necessary," said Bar Council chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan.

"The Federal Constitution is the supreme law of the land as provided in Article 4(1)," she said. "This Merdeka Constitution also formed the basis when Malaysia was established on 16th September 1963 and North Borneo and Sarawak joined the Federation with the common law system having pride of place."

“The cold print of the words used in the Constitution and its spirit are developed by judges deciding cases within the structure of the common law system. Interpretation of the Constitution is not undertaken in a vacuum,” she added.

(Anonymous) former law professor

Is the English common law still relevant to Malaysia, 50 years after the nation attained independence from British rule?

A former law professor was quoted by theSun as saying that the English common law has a role to play in the Malaysian legal system.

His credibility would not have suffered had he revealed who he is. Only cybertroopers and "stupid" bloggers masked their identities when making comments, aren't they? You simply can't comment on the Malaysian judiciary system, claiming a professional license, and yet daren't be identified.

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