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UPDATED VERSION. DISQUIET, the word popularised by lawyer-blogger Malik Imtiaz Sarwar who used it as the title for his blog, popped up in Sultan Azlan Shah's speech when he opened the 14th Malaysian Law Conference this morning.

He received a 2-minute standing ovation from the 1,500 strong audience made up primarily of lawyers and legal experts when he finished his opening speech.

Associated Press said the Abdullah Administration is now facing mounting pressure to pursue judicial reforms, as the country's former Yang DiPertuan Agong has voiced distress that judges are losing their case in the court of public opinion.

The wire agency said, by relating to recent "disturbing events relating to the judiciary", Sultan Azlan Shah was making an apparent reference to a scandal involving a video tape that allegedly provides proof of judicial corruption.

The Sultan, who is a former Lord President, said:

Sadly I must acknowledge there has been some disquiet about our judiciary over the past few years and in the more recent past. In 2004, I had stated that it grieved me, having been a member of the judiciary, whenever I heard allegations against the judiciary and the erosion of public confidence in the judiciary.

Recently there have been even more disturbing events relating to the judiciary reported in the press. We have also witnessed the unprecedented act of a former Court of Appeal judge writing in his post-retirement book of erroneous and questionable judgements delivered by our higher courts in a chapter under the heading “When Justice is Not Administered According to Law”. There are other serious criticisms.

I could be wrong, but I reckon Sultan Azlan Shah was referring to the book by former Court of Appeal Judge N.H. Chan, titled: Judging the Judges.

Significantly, Sultan Azlan Shah said he felt compelled to speak at length on the issues relating to the Malaysian Judiciary, and the urgency to seek redemption and to regain the glory of a time when our Judiciary and legal system were the pride of the region.

"It is my earnest hope that the Malaysian judiciary will regain the public’s confidence and it will once again be held in high esteem as it once was held," he said.

He brought up some recent cases. Quote:

Only last week, I read in a latest Malaysian law report that a case of medical negligence involving a death of a lawyer took 23 years to reach the Court of Appeal.

Similarly there have been reports that some judges have taken years to write their grounds of judgements involving accused persons who have been convicted and languishing in death row.

Surely, such a situation cannot be tolerated in any progressive nation.

Rule of Law

Before giving his opinion about the quality of Judiciary in current day Malaysia, Sultan Azlan Shah spoke about the Federal Constitution and pillar of Rule of Law, as expounded by Lord Woolf in April 2004; and how present day judges should behave themselves judicially.

He recalled his days sitting in the Federal Court in 1977 during which he spoke on the 3 essential features of our constitution. He quoted himself:

“It is the supreme law of the land embodying three basic concepts: One of them is that the individual has certain fundamental rights upon which not even the power of the state may encroach.

The second is the distribution of sovereign power between the states and the federation, [...]

The third is that no single man or body shall exercise complete sovereign power, but that it shall be distributed among the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, compendiously expressed in modern terms that we are a government of laws, not of men.”

Having explained the prescription of "Government of laws, not of men", Sultan Azlan Shah drove home the message that those who are entrusted to administer and uphold the constitution -- meaning the Executive, or government of the day -- must embalm in their hearts and minds of a belief in the values and principles that animate the august document, the Federal Constitution.

He reiterated that the prescription that “we are a government of laws, not of men” describes the basic principle that runs through our entire constitution-the principle of the Rule of Law.

Based on the non-compromising sanctity of the Constitution, Sultan Azlan Shah said our Judiciary and judges can enjoy assured security of tenure under the Constitution. Therefore, the judges should discharge their duties impartially, confidently and competently.

Loss of confidence in Judiciary

He said in these days, judges must ever be mindful that the loss of independence can come from many sources, and not just from the Executive.

He reminded the judges that they must piously resist the lure of socializing with business personages and other well connected people or face "the unedifying spectacle of recusal applications:.

(The Lingam Tape popped up on my mind!)

Quote:

Nothing destroys more the confidence the general public, or the business community has in the judiciary than the belief that the judge was biased when he decided a case, or that the judge would not be independent where powerful individuals or corporations are the litigants before him.

Confidence in the judiciary may also be eroded where the business community perceives incompetence in decision-making. A judgment in a banking or commercial transaction that is contrary to the established norms or which is incomprehensible in its reasoning is bound to give rise to suspicion and loss of confidence.

It therefore becomes apparent, that our attempts to establish ourselves as a leading financial and commercial center will fail, if we do not have a competent judiciary to decide on complex commercial disputes. In this regard, it is utmost importance that the foreign investor have faith in the competence and integrity of our judiciary.

(Oh gee, Harry Lee's recent address at the International Bar Association Conference Singapore jolted my mind. What a concurrent view!)

Judges should be like Caesar's wife

Interestingly, Sultan Azlan Shah chose to rub it in further by advising the judge to be like Caesar’s wife, that he should be above suspicion.

Explaining further, Sultan Azllan Shah said public confidence in the judiciary is based on four evaluating criteria. They are:

(1) the principle of independence of the judiciary;
(2) the principle of impartiality of adjudication;
(3) the principle of fairness of trial; and
(4) the principle of the integrity of the adjudicator.

He then asked: How does our judiciary measure today against these criteria?

Good lawyers, bad lawyers

After the judges, Sultan Azlan spoke on good lawyers and bad lawyers.

It was reported that Sultan Azlan Shah had the conference delegates in stitches when he mistakenly said "there are good lawyers and bad judges" when he meant "bad lawyers" before smiling and correcting his error.

To him, bad lawyers are those who are in clear dereliction of their responsibilities, have either misled the courts, or attempted to choose the judges or courts for their cases to be heard so as to obtain a favourable decision in their client’s favour.

This is serious interference with the administration of justice and the process of the court, he said.

Therefore, according to him, there cannot be an independent Judiciary without an independent Bar.

Rocky and I are particularly kept on high-wire anxiety as both of us, in the course of our blogging life, are currently facing defamation suits instituted by a politically-linked listed media company.

'Don't trample underfoot their rights'

Sultan's last salve at the judges related to the execution of justice in a plural society.

He said: "Judges in Malaysia must be ever mindful that they are appointed judges for all Malaysians."

They, he added, must be sensitive to the feelings of all parties, irrespective of race, religion or creed, and be careful not to bring a predisposed mind to an issue before them that is capable of being misconstrued by the watching public or segments of them.

Lastly, he chose to quote the observation from his predecessor at the Bench, Tun Suffian:

“In a multi-racial and multi religious society like yours and mine, while we judges cannot help being Malay or Chinese or Indian; or being Muslim or Buddhist or Hindu or whatever, we strive not to be too identified with any particular race or religion – so that nobody reading our judgement with our name deleted could with confidence identity our race or religion, and so that the various communities, especially minority communities, are assured that we will not allow their rights to be trampled underfoot.”

We must say a prayer to all the Subashini's in Malaysia for Tun Suffian is long dead.

NOTE: The full text of Sultan Azlan Shah;s speech is available on the Bar Council website.