Judiciary independence must be upheld — SLS
KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Law Society (SLS) is extremely perturbed by the recent allegations of judicial misconduct by Datuk Dr Haji Hamid Sultan bin Abu Backer (Justice Hamid Sultan), a sitting judge of the Court of Appeal as contained in his affidavit affirmed on February 14, 2019 filed in support of civil proceedings between Sanjeet Kaur Deo against the office of the Chief Justice of Malaysia.
Not withs tanding the unconventional and unprecedented manner upon which these allegations have been revealed, SLS president Brenndon Keith Soh said it is imperative that the independence of the judiciary be upheld to ensure public confidence in the fairness and objectivity of the Malaysian justice system.
He said the courts should never be subject to improper influence from other branches of government or from private or partisan interests.
“We note that the office of the Chief Justice of Malaysia has already confirmed that an official investigation against the senior judge concerned could not be conducted pursuant to the Judges’ Ethics Committee Act 2010 and Judges’ Code of Ethics 2009 due to the fact that the judge implicated has already retired from the judiciary.
“Furthermore, a police report by the office of the Chief Registrar has already been made on the allegations made by Justice Hamid Sultan.
“The SLS would therefore urge the relevant authorities, namely the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and/or the Royal Malaysian Police to expedite the investigations without delay and leave no stone unturned in doing so,” said Brenddon in a statement yesterday.
In this respect, he said there can be no compromise in providing all requisite details, including identifying the perpetrators concerned. It is paramount that those implicated in such misconduct be brought to book immediately so as to safeguard the sanctity of the judiciary as an institution. This would simultaneously preserve the integrity of the majority of those judges who have upheld the oath of office and are not involved in the broad allegations made by Justice Hamid Sultan.
Consequentially, the SLS hereby endorses the suggestion of the Advocates Association of Sarawak (AAS) that a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) should only be convened after the investigations by the relevant law enforcement agencies have been completed.
In the event that there is sufficient evidence, then the SLS has every confidence in the Federal Attorney General Chambers that the appropriate charges would be preferred against those concerned.
In the event that the government of the day sees it fit to form a RCI on the allegations of judicial misconduct, it would be imperative that any recommendations made by the RCI be immediately implemented so as to meet the expectations of the legal fraternity and the public at large.
Regrettably, Brenddon said a number of the previous RCIs have fallen short of such expectations with either inconclusive findings and/or inadequate action on the suggested proposals made by the commissioners.
“We trust that such deficiencies will not be repeated in the future in the event a RCI is held.
“For the record, the SLS acknowledges and commends the judiciary for embarking upon a range of administrative reforms as proposed by the Institutional Reform Committee with a view to improve the administration of justice in Malaysia.
“These recent initiatives include collective decision making amongst the office bearers of the judiciary, the use of information technology to randomly select the panels to hear appellate cases as well as having regular consultative meetings with the Bar Council, AAS and the SLS on matters affecting the legal profession and system as a whole. These are noble intentions with both merit and substance,” he added.