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Senior constitutional lawyer Raja Aziz Addruse said on the last day of the 14th Malaysian Law Conference that the checks and balances that were in the 1957 constitution did not exist anymore.

He said it's the judiciary and the Parliament (Legislature) that are responsible for the current state of the Federal Constitution.

He cited the reasons for this deterioration as ( 1 ) a failure of the courts to uphold fundamental liberties, ( 2 ) executive interference and ( 3 ) the amendment to Article 121 which meant that the courts' jurisdiction was now as that determined by Parliament.

“Fundamental liberties no longer exist; this is a harsh thing to say but the courts don’t seem to think that fundamental rights are important,” he said yesterday at a session themed “What the Constitution means to me”.

“To me, the constitution now means nothing because it can be changed at any time.”

Bearing in mind that the incumbent government controls over 91% majority in parliamentary representation, we got the government and governance we deserved.

Our job now is to determine if we want this rot, alongside Judicial rot, to sustain forever.

Read Shaila Koshy's report in The Star in full.

Be ready to boycott judiciary

Coming back to judicial rot, what should lawyers do next if there is no action on the judicial scandal exposed by the ‘Lingam Tape’?

Walk the talk and be brave enough to walk out of courts, boycott the Judiciary!

That was the bold suggestion made at a special session themed 'We watched, we walked, we now ... do what?' at the Malaysian Law Conference yesterday.

The session kicked off with the eight-minute video clip being shown on the big screen. Exclaimed 'Correct! Correct! Correct' thick in a non-Queens' English accent resonated the hall.

Lawyer Haris Ibrahim then told the audience that something drastic would have to be done if the upcoming meeting between Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Malaysian Bar president S Ambiga bears no fruit. Quote Malaysiakini:

"I think, at its extraordinary general meeting on Nov 22, the Bar must be prepared to take the necessary resolutions to put a stop to this nonsense.

"I'm suggesting that there's no other way to drive the point home that, until the judiciary is clean, we will not take part in a system that has become so tainted (because) we (would be tarred) by the same brush," he said firmly.

He cited the example of Pakistan Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry who was suspended by president Gen Pervez Musharraf on March 9.

This led to lawyers boycotting the courts, confronting riot police officers, burning pictures of Musharraf and holding nationwide protests. It resulted in the reinstatement of Chaudhry on July 20.

"They brought the administration of justice to a standstill. The judiciary cannot function without the legal profession,” said Haris.

“I can't see anything else than some drastic action by lawyers to say ‘No, we've had enough, we will not take part in it; clean up the system and give us the royal commission or else’.

"If not, I don't see any way else that can help us get out of this quagmire that we find ourselves in now.”

There was a roar of support and loud applause from the audience.