Nothing is more reprehensible than the revelations that are slowly emerging from the sacking of Salleh Abbas, the lord president in 1988 to ‘boot camps’ to indoctrinate stubborn judges so that they are made subservient and compliant to the wishes of the executive. We may not have heard the whole story yet and there’s more to come. Presently, two chief justices are in the limelight for selling their souls to the devil – their integrity, honesty and dignity to the highest bidder for injustice!
Nobody trusts our judges any more. Even when sound judgments are made there is a tinge of disbelief whether they was made in accordance with the law and evidence or was there some other hand at work to subvert the course of justice. Whatever it is, our trust in the judiciary has been shattered and no amount of assurances given by the government can restore our confidence in it so long as the present system of appointing judges and other judicial officers remain.
Needless to say, it is one particular race that is dominating the judicial system in the country irrespective of their suitability in dispensing justice. This is an anomaly in a multi-racial setting.
It’s very clear the appointment of judicial officers cannot be left in the hands of the executive if they are not to become beholden to those appointing and promoting them to the higher echelons of the judiciary. A judicial commission is very necessary for all judicial matters including the appointment of judicial officers so that the executive does not interfere with the honest work of judges.
The right people must be appointed to this commission or else it will be the same old story. Senior members of the Bar must be members of this commission and not nominees of the attorney-general or the prime minister to avoid from them paying obeisance to the latter unwittingly.
It is a daunting task to find suitable people to be appointed to this judicial commission given the kind of patronage that will be expected of them in circumstances that may not be in their favour. However, there doesn’t seem to be enough of the kind of people who could be fitted into a judicial commission with all its demanding expectations without any fear whatsoever.
Junior judges have leapfrogged over senior ones, lazy judges who have not written their judgments are promoted, allegations of corruption etc have been the practice thus far. Some judgments handed down have not been well-accepted by the general public. Doubtless, our judiciary is in shambles.
What is the solution then to restore confidence in our courts? Some members of the present judiciary are tainted andare not living up to their oath of office. Judges must follow their oaths and do their duty, heedless of editorials, letters, telegrams, threats, petitions etc. and deliver their judgments without fear or favour. Some cases take too long for comfort, in others, files and court documents go missing.
There are various other problems that lend support to the belief that justice in our courts is a rare commodity. Four things are required of a judge - to hear courteously, to answer wisely, to consider soberly, and to decide impartially. Without these attributes, no judge - whatever his level of erudition and understanding of the law - can deliver a sound judgment based on law and evidence provided.
For every independent judge operating in an official capacity there are several who got onto the bench because they knew some politician who jolted them on to high office. Thus, the bewilderment of the public by some of the judgments delivered. Judges must be able to hold their respect and dignity in the face of all who appear in their courts – crooks, cranks, culprits, cut- throats, scoundrels, rapscallions and, unfortunately, the innocent as well.
The treatment given to them in the courts must be such that it holds both plaintiff and accused in awe of the judge who makes the decision for punishment or otherwise acceptable. It is with great fear and trepidation that we have to find judges who will under trying circumstances arrive at the truth and dispense justice according to the law laid down and nothing else.
Do we have such people in Malaysia? If so, we have to ferret them out from wherever they are hidden and appoint them to the higher posts in the judiciary. Failing this, our courts are not going to see any improvement from the present situation they find themselves in.
Finally , in the search for our next chief justice we must not confine ourselves only to this country and to one particular community. We must cast our net far and wide within the commonwealth of nations to find the most suitable candidate who will fit the bill for such a noble calling. There are many out there, not necessarily within the country, who can be relied upon to clean up our judiciary that is presently in a state of unreliability.
We cannot afford to leave the appointment of judges and other judicial officers in the hands of those who can abuse the system . It is too dangerous to ignore what has already happened in the disclosures made by the Lingam Tape scandal.
Let us not close our eyes and shut our ears to the cries for justice that are reverberating throughout the country. We must bring law and order to the judiciary before justice can be served to the public at large without fear or favour of any sort from any source.
