Translate
25 August 2018
10 out of 13 judges from the apex court, are due to retire by next year. Bar Council Want Senior Lawyers to be Considered too
Bar wants lawyers on Federal Court bench pending mass retirements of judges
Boo Su-Lyn
Malay Mail25 August 2018
View photos
Malaysian Bar president George Varughese during a special interview with Malay Mail at the Bar Council in Kuala Lumpur. — Pictures by Miera ZulyanaMore
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 — The Malaysian Bar called for lawyers to be appointed directly as Federal Court judges as 10 out of 13 judges from the apex court, including all office bearers, are due to retire by next year.
Chief Justice Tan Sri Richard Malanjum and Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Zaharah Ibrahim will hit the retirement age of 66 on October 13 and November 17 this year respectively, while Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Datuk David Wong Dak Wah and Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Ahmad Maarop will turn 66 on August 20 2019 and May 25 2019 respectively.
Judges are only allowed to extend their service by six months after hitting the mandatory retirement age.
“Don’t just look at the Court of Appeal; look at senior lawyers,” Malaysian Bar president George Varughese told Malay Mail in an interview, when asked who should replace the retiring Federal Court judges.
“I want to see a 50-50 mix — 50 per cent from the Court of Appeal and 50 per cent from the Bar.”
Aside from the four office bearers, another six judges on the apex court’s 15-member bench, which currently has two vacancies, are due to retire when they turn 66 or six months past then.
Three of them — Tan Sri Hasan Lah, Tan Sri Zainun Ali, and Tan Sri Aziah Ali — are already serving their six-month extensions as they turned 66 earlier this year.
According to the JAC, there were seven vacancies in the 32-member Court of Appeal bench and 15 vacancies in the 73-member High Court bench as of July 17.
The looming retirements of most of the Federal Court bench within a year from now will lead to even more vacancies in the Court of Appeal and High Court if the government follows the traditional practice of moving judges up the ranks, instead of appointing practising lawyers directly to the superior courts.
There have only been two occasions in history when a lawyer was directly appointed into the bench at the Federal Court and Court of Appeal: Tun Zaki Azmi in 2007 and Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram in 1994 respectively. Zaki went on to be Chief Justice in 2008 and retired in 2011.
Traditionally, appointments of superior court judges, which are recommended by the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) for the prime minister’s consideration, come from the Judicial and Legal Services, such as legal officers like deputy public prosecutors (DPPs) and senior legal advisers, as well as judicial officers like Sessions Court judges.
They would typically be appointed as High Court justices and work their way up to the apex court.
George said private practitioners used to get appointed as High Court judges, but “not a lot”. They would normally be made judicial commissioners first before becoming High Court judges.
“During Tun Zaki’s tenure, far more practitioners were appointed to the judiciary. Many appointments during his tenure became Court of Appeal and Federal Court judges,” said George.
“Somehow, after Tun Zaki left, the number of appointments from the Bar has reduced.”
View photos
George called for clearer guidelines and policy on the criteria for appointing magistrates and Sessions Court judges.More
Let lawyers be magistrates, Sessions Court judges
George advocated for at least half of the judiciary to comprise members of the Bar at all levels and said the subordinate courts should also be opened to practising lawyers; magistrates and Sessions Court judges all currently come from the Judicial and Legal Services.
According to the Malaysian Bar president, fresh law graduates currently can be appointed as magistrates, who deal with minor crimes like traffic offences and theft.
A magistrate or a DPP with just two or three years’ experience currently can also be made a Sessions Court judge, who has the power to impose a maximum prison sentence of 25 years for drug offences.
George called for clearer guidelines and policy on the criteria for appointing magistrates and Sessions Court judges.
“A magistrate should have minimum three years’ experience either in the Bar or the Judicial and Legal Services. Sessions Court judge appointees should have minimum five to seven years’ experience,” he said.
He recommended that law graduates be made junior DPPs first or sent to the drafting division to draft legislation for Parliament before they are appointed as magistrates.
“It’s like doctors who are house officers in different departments before they become medical officers. Why can’t lawyers go through systematic training?”
More specialists in the Bar
George said there were far more talents in the Malaysian Bar than the Attorney-General’s Chambers who could be appointed as judges, pointing out that the peninsular legal association had 18,000 members.
“Members of the Bar specialise in different areas — criminal, intellectual property, commercial and corporate. People like us will be very useful to get on the bench to deal with those cases, rather than general experience,” said the lawyer.
He pointed out that almost all judges in England came from practice, while Singapore and India also frequently filled their judiciary with members of the Bar.
Singapore’s Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, George noted, came from practice before he was appointed to various positions in the judiciary, Attorney-General, and then Chief Justice.
When asked if some judges may perceive the appointments of practising lawyers as “parachute candidates”, George said they should not view it as such.
“It cannot be a case where the judiciary is solely the domain of the Judicial and Legal Services.”
Popular Posts - Last 7 days
-
Lyia Meta, the first Malaysian singer nominated in the Grammy Awards Astro Awani 11/11/2024 Lyia Meta continues to strengthen her position...
-
Priest stabbed in St Joseph's Church in Singapore 09/11/2024 SINGAPORE: A priest was injured in a knife attack during mass at St Josep...
-
Court rejects Malaysian Bar's bid to challenge Najib's pardon Bernama 11/11/2024 Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has been serving his sen...
-
Azlan Man mengaku tidak bersalah pertuduhan pilihan salah guna wang RM1.06 juta Bernama 12/11/2024 Bekas Menteri Besar Perlis Datuk Seri Az...
-
Hasnah angkat sumpah jawatan Hakim Besar Malaya Bernama 12/11/2024 Datuk Seri Hasnah Mohammed Hashim mengangkat sumpah sebagai Hakim Besar M...
-
Tun Daim Zainuddin passes away 13/11/2024 KUALA LUMPUR: Former Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin reportedly died this morning at the age ...
-
Dalam perkembangan terbaru dakwaan skandal rasuah, seorang pemberi maklumat mengeluarkan video tambahan, di samping lapan video perb...
Popular Posts - Last 30 days
-
McDonald's E. coli crisis reveals why vegetable contamination is 'harder problem' than beef Reuters 26/10/2024 Fresh produce is ...
-
CNN CBS AP BBC US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS LIVE RESULTS: https://edition.cnn.com/election/2024/results/president?elec...
-
Budget 2025: Govt allocates RM470 mil to empower women's participation in PMKS Bernama 18/10/2024 The government allocated RM470 million...
-
Kadar jangka pendek diunjurkan kekal kukuh disokong operasi BNM Bernama 04/11/2024 Hari ini, BNM akan menawarkan dua tender repo berbalik m...
-
Lyia Meta, the first Malaysian singer nominated in the Grammy Awards Astro Awani 11/11/2024 Lyia Meta continues to strengthen her position...
-
Seorang maut, 49 lagi jatuh sakit di AS akibat jangkitan E.Coli Astro Awani 23/10/2024 CDC memaklumkan semua individu ditemu bual melaporka...
-
The King of Spain was mocked, pelted with mud and eggs by flood victims Agency 04/11/2024 07:15 MYT King Felipe VI (with an umbrella) is pr...
-
PM Anwar hadir pada perlumbaan GP Malaysia 2024 Bernama 03/11/2024 Anwar (dua, kiri) melambaikan tangan kepada para penonton ketika hadir pa...
Blog Archive
-
▼
2018
(4100)
-
▼
Aug 2018
(420)
- Teenage sailor Fauzi Kaman Shah won the Laser 4.7 ...
- AG Appoints A Senior Lawyer and An Ex Judge as le...
- Sidang Media Penuh SPRM Tentang Tangkapan 9 orang ...
- Malaysia National Day Parade 2018 I Perbarisan da...
- Video : Malaysia Stuns India in Semi Finals To Qua...
- The National Day 2018 celebrated on Friday (Aug 31...
- Jacky Cheung fans camp out at the Quill City Mall ...
- Tun Dr. Mahathir:our aspiration for Malaysia to be...
- Azizulhasni Awang Wins Cycling Sprint Gold at Asia...
- The Yang di-Pertuan Agong cancelled the Sept 9 off...
- Putrajaya clarifies after cronyism allegation, Pet...
- A “Middle Eastern source” may have provided US$12 ...
- Putrajaya has said it is disappointed with Batu Ca...
- An unemployed man was today charged for proclaimin...
- Tabung Harapan Malaysia will cease accepting donat...
- Timbalan perdana menteri berkata beliau 'sangat ti...
- Two men were arrested in connection with the fake ...
- After 13 years, the National Day celebration will ...
- The Sales and Service Tax (SST) threshold for eate...
- The Esscom is not happy with Malaysian actor who c...
- DNA samples of the Dutch model Ivana Smit and that...
- GT Global Race (M) Sdn Bhd has issued a winding-up...
- JPJ BLacklist for those who fail to Settle DBKL su...
- Dato Seri Vidas Cryptocurrency LaVida Coin goes o...
- The mother of the late Tan Sri Jamaluddin Jarjis a...
- A Malaysian silat exponent caused an uproar after ...
- Batu Caves Temple Paint job on staircase in viral ...
- Former Malaysian External Investigation Organisati...
- MACC has arrested former DG of Research Department...
- Tottenham Hotspur romped to a 3-0 Premier League w...
- Anwar Ibrahim Bersuara Isu Beliau Dan Tun Dr Mahat...
- Ali Hamsa -KSN Replaced By Treasury secretary-gene...
- Malaysia won the coveted inter-regu sepak takraw ...
- Former MIC vice-president Tan Sri S. Balakrishnan ...
- 7 civil servants from Research Department at Prime...
- Thai Facebook users have condemned a Thai man for ...
- Husband claims police are refreshing remand order ...
- KL parents accidentally leave behind 3 year old to...
- Rafizi Ramli is allowed to contest in the PKR elec...
- Najib Razak was summoned to the Anti-Money Launder...
- Malaysian 21 Year Old Rafiq Beats South Korean Def...
- Winners and losers of sales and services tax (SST)
- "I was offered RM1.5 million if I admitted to kill...
- Former MIC VP Tan Sri Arrested by MACC for Money ...
- Full list of SST tax-exempt items are expected to ...
- The ceiling price for coarse granulated sugar and ...
- Malaysia will not allow foreigners to buy resident...
- Perhilitan ranger Ahmad Tarmizi found after almost...
- Gunman kills four at Madden 19 video game tourname...
- Just hours after a double murder shocked Penang, a...
- Anwar - The Security Offenses (Special Measures) A...
- E-Sports Fans Rejoiced After Malaysian Team placed...
- DPM Wan Azizah Speaks From The Heart At the launch...
- AG: No one bothered about the Manifesto before GE1...
- Nicol Davids wins Malaysia's second Gold Medal in ...
- AKSI Mat Rempit Lawan Arus Elak Roadblock
- Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng Says it as it is: GS...
- Cash handouts such as the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (...
- Tun Mahathir Hentam Najib, Rosmah, Jho Low
- Mat Sabu's warning to politicians who run afoul of...
- A woman walking in just her bikini bottom and a lo...
- Tun Dr Mahathir to those from previous administra...
- Tun Dr Mahathir needs the Council of Eminent Perso...
- Saifuddin Abdullah plays the role of A Diplomat wh...
- Escorts must be moonlighting, if Hishammuddin’s es...
- Referee gives Japan highly debatable Penalty in th...
- Malaysia is assured of a gold medal in the women's...
- Group of 20 Transgenders cite Hindu religious righ...
- Police Inspector Muhd Aidil Ja’afar became an Inte...
- 10 out of 13 judges from the apex court, are due t...
- Dr Muhammed Abdul Khalid appointed the Economic Ad...
- Yang di-Pertuan Agong will not be conferring any t...
- The ceiling of the Bukit Raja toll plaza in Klang ...
- 23-year-old babysitter arrested to facilitate inve...
- 3 Southeast Asians, including a Malaysian Mohamad ...
- THE Sessions Court has issued warrants of arrest f...
- Several main roads in Putrajaya will be closed and...
- Three masked men stormed into a couple's home in K...
- 2018 Royal Floria Putrajaya evolved from tourism p...
- Penampilan Via Vallen di Sukan Asia 2018 Berhasil ...
- Najib Razak's Loyalist In 1MDB Scandal Tan Sri Lod...
- Admiralty Court grants the selling of superyacht E...
- Gambar & Video Bogel Anak Pelakon Terkenal Che Ta ...
- Jho Low and his father Tan Sri (Larry) Low Hock Pe...
- Official Theme Song Asian Games 2018 Performed by:...
- Police have identified the mastermind involved in ...
- Singapore Airlines (SIA) pilot has died after a mo...
- Man was nabbed by Indonesian police for sexual as...
- THE Inland Revenue Board is being investigated for...
- Cosmetics millionaire Datuk Seri Vida, has launche...
- RM1,111,111 for 'Malaysia 1' number plate
- Tun Dr Mahathir " People Who Signed Contracts With...
- PM Tun Dr Mahathir questiones the need for a wall ...
- Police smashed a drug smuggling and distribution s...
- On Wednesday Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad...
- A superbiker died after being dragged two kilometr...
- Heavy security, secrecy surrounds Musa Aman's VVIP...
- Malaysian student’s delightful rendezvous with Dr ...
- Bila Menteri Pertahanan Pi Cucok Duit Kat Maybank
- Nga kor Ming Menbongkarkan MAPS mengalami kerugian...
-
▼
Aug 2018
(420)