‘Act to restore confidence in judicial and legal institutions’

The government must act to restore public trust and confidence in the judicial and legal institutions following a judge’s shocking claims exposing purported scams, Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) said.

Its president Datuk Akhbar Satar said the judicial and legal institutions must be independent and have integrity so that they are trusted by the people.

He said there must be no abuse of power in the judiciary as the judicial and legal institutions are an important check and balance mechanism in the country.

“If impunity is not abolished, efforts to bring an end to corruption in Malaysia will not succeed,” he said.

Akhbar said candidates must be screened thoroughly before being appointed as judges, and the selection process must ensure that those who make the cut are people with integrity, merit, honesty and bravery.

He said there must be transparency in court proceedings to ensure public confidence.

This is because attempts by external parties to exert influence over the exercise of judicial functions and the politicisation of judicial appointments is particularly worrying.

Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin, a member of the G25 group of eminent Malays, felt that on the whole, the country’s judiciary is clean.

“However, now that these allegations have surfaced, the Chief Justice should look into the matter,” she said.