I have written about some of the recent events surrounding the reform of the judiciary. Briefly, de facto Law Minister, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, has been telling the public that the efforts have basically stalled having met with resistance from certain members of the Cabinet. You can read my two articles here and here. His latest statement was at a dinner function where he revealed that some UMNO leaders are calling for his resignation (there is a summary of that article here).

An independent judiciary is crucial to ensure check and balance. Clearly the stalling of efforts to reform the judiciary will enable interested parties to protect their agenda and render these efforts ineffective. Haris Mohamed Ibrahim, of The People’s Parliament, has written a petition to the Agong to urge him to intervene in the following:

1. to require that the senior most judge of the Federal Court, such seniority measured by the years of service in the apex court, be appointed as the next Chief Justice upon the retirement of the present Chief Justice Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad retires on 18th October, 2008; and
2. pending the establishment of the Judicial Appointments Commission, to require that promotions to the Court of Appeal and to the Federal Court shall be from the senior most judges of the High Courts and Court of Appeal respectively. Again, seniority must be assessed by the years of service in the High Courts and Court of Appeal respectively.

This, if I understand it correctly is to prevent the fastracking of persons to important and very powerful positions in the judiciary. For example, recently Tan Sri Dato’ Zaki, barely three months into his appointment as a judge of the Federal Court, was recommended by the PM and appointed to the position of President of the Court of Appeal, bypassing several far more senior judges of the Federal Court. He is the most junior judge amongst all judges of the High Courts, the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court when this happened. He has been very intimately involved in UMNO, having at one time held the position of chairman of the party’s election committee, deputy chairman of its disciplinary board of appeal and party legal adviser. Note that the present Chief Justice Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad retires on 18th October, 2008.

I encourage you to read the petition, which is in English and Bahasa Melayu, at http://www.petitiononline.com/6ai18u26/petition.html. I have added my name to it and I hope as many who are concerned about the state of the judiciary in our country will do so too. Let us unite our voice in this important matter. You will be required to give your name, an email address, and your IC no.

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