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Bar Council backs move by forum to look at how judges are appointed

Thursday, 31 May 2007 07:55am

©The Star (Used by permission)
By Shaila Koshy

KUALA LUMPUR: The Asia-Pacific Judicial Reform Forum’s study of how judges are appointed and promoted in 40 countries is a good “first step” for greater independence of the judiciary here, said Bar Council chairman Ambiga Sreenevasan.

“We, of course, think it should be a judicial commission but the forum’s study of whether a commission or executive-led recommendations ensures greater independence is a good initiative.”

She was responding to a statement by Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim on Tuesday after the close of the roundtable meeting at the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya.

About 60 chief justices, senior judges and legal representatives as well as observers from the World Bank, United Nations Development Programme, Indonesia-Australia Legal Development Facility and Universiti Teknologi Mara's Law Faculty attended the forum.

Ahmad Fairuz said the study would be from the judiciary’s perspective.

Asked whether this was the judicial initiative that Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz had mentioned during a council-organised debate with Kota Baru MP Datuk Zaid Ibrahim April 24, Ambiga said: “I hope so.”

“But don’t forget, as far back as 1995, then Chief Justice Tun Mohd Eusoff Chin had endorsed the Beijing Statement of Principles of The Independence of the Judiciary in the Lawasia Region which states that, in the absence of a Judicial Services Commission for the appointment of judges, procedures should be ‘clearly defined and formalised and information about them should be available to the public.’

“The actual model is open to discussion but we want a system that promotes independence and ensures that those appointed are competent and have credibility,” she added.

Nazri could not be reached for comment but Zaid, who supports having a judicial commission, described the study as a positive development.

He welcomed the open-mindedness of the forum in publishing the study on the Internet.

Transparency International Malaysia president Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam also welcomed the study but added:

“I would not have thought that a study was necessary because good governance would dictate establishing a body to choose judges in a transparent and democratic way.”