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 ©Malaysiakini
(Used by permission)
by Bede Hong
The Bar Council today gave its stamp of approval to the appointment of prominent
lawyer Zaki Azmi as a Federal Court judge despite his close ties with ruling
party Umno.
“He is of the right temperament and experience,” said Bar Council president
Ambiga Sreenevasan.
“As far as the bar is concerned, we think it is a great honour that one of our
members have been elevated,” she added when contacted.
Yesterday, Zaki, 62, became the first lawyer to be appointed to the Federal
Court. Before this, only lawyer Gopal Sri Ram had bypassed serving in the High
Court when he was appointed to the Court of Appeal in 1994.
 Both Zaki and Gopal are members of Lincoln’s Inn.
Ambiga touted the appointment as a chance to improve the image of the judiciary.
“We believe this is one of the ways they are attempting to strengthen the
judiciary. We should view it positively because of that. The judiciary has been
getting a lot of bad press,” she said.
In addition to serving as Umno’s legal adviser, Zaki was the party’s
disciplinary committee chairperson, Umno selection committee secretary and
deputy chairperson of the Umno disciplinary board appeal panel.
He had stepped down from these posts in 2005 following his controversial divorce
from his second wife.
“The only problem is the perception that he is associated with Umno or is with
the government. The onus is one him to prove otherwise. He has to dispel this
notion,” said Ambiga.
While supporting the appointment, she said that the Bar Council should have been
consulted.
“We feel that, ultimately, we have to set up a judicial commission so there is
transparency. Then the public won’t be questioning such appointments,” she said.
Public perception
Meanwhile, prominent lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad expressed support for such a
commission. He however, has some reservations over the appointment of Zaki to
the Federal Court.
“First and foremost, I have no qualms with lawyers being appointed to the
Federal Court, provided they are of exceptional quality,” he said when contacted
today.
He said the choice of candidate to be appointed to the Federal Court should be
“someone above controversy and links to any political party.”
“What matters is public perception. The fact that he has been closely linked
with Umno for years being the legal adviser, being a member of the disciplinary
board, poses a problem of public confidence,” said Amer.
“Ideally a judge should not have any of this baggage. Any of these can be used
by irresponsible quarters to smear the good name of the judiciary.
“It is up to him to dispel any allegations and impression that he may not be
able to discharge his duties impartially in view of his connection with Umno,”
he added.
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Generally, this should be an honour to the Bar, and to be fair to him, he should also deserve a chance to prove himself over the criticisms. However, after so many 'dark" and "darker" side of the judiciary had been revealed lately, our worries about this appointment is certainly not of no reasons.
Be if nobody can ensure what will happen after this appointment, can anyone suggest a safeguard to us IF any of our worries come true in future? We cannot be wrong to worry for the worst because our history had shown us how powerful the judiciary is and how disastrous when their powers are abused.
There is a rumour that such appointment is actually meant for the replacement of CJ, and that is also the reason why the appointment is even bypassing the Court of Appeal. Hopefully this remains just a rumour, but we should not rule out its possibility because "Malaysia boleh". After all, we had witnessed ridiculous things happened in the judiciary for the past, and also the present.
Shim Wai Loon