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 ©Malaysiakini
(Used by permission)
The Bar Council emergency meeting today called for a royal
commission to look into the rot in the judiciary since 1988, and they intend to
march to the Prime Minister's Office next Wednesday to press their case.
The council meeting was hastily convened to discuss what should be done to
safeguard the judiciary in the aftermath of an explosive
video clip
which showed one of their own brokering the appointment of judges with the
present Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim.
Speaking to reporters after the two-hour meeting, Bar Council chairperson Ambiga
Sreenevasan said the Bar, representing 12,000 lawyers in Peninsular Malaysia,
would be submitting a memorandum to the prime minister next Wednesday calling
for the royal commission.
Lawyers are expected to march a short distance from the Palace of Justice in
Putrajaya to the Prime Minister's office to hand in the memorandum.
They are expected to be donning their official court attire of black jackets and
white shirts.
The council also ruled that an emergency general meeting (EGM) - which will
involved all its members - would be held at 3pm on Oct 6 at the Legend Hotel in
Kuala Lumpur. The main purpose of the meeting is on the state of the judiciary.
Ambiga said that the task of the royal commission would be to look into the
state of the judiciary since the unceremonious sacking of the then Lord
President Salleh Abas in 1988.
Many critics have claimed that the judiciary has been on a free fall since then.
“There's no doubt that all members are outraged at the emergence of this video
clip," said Ambiga.
"A royal commission is also incumbent as we don't wish to see the matter (video
clip) being swept under the carpet," she added.
Ambiga also said that the council would propose that the commission, if formed
by the government, should comprise of former senior judges and lawyers.
Unacceptable but telling
She said that many questions raised by the video cry out for answers.
“It underscores the need for a judicial commission. If there is no truth in the
allegations or inferences arising out of the video, then the parties concerned
must be vindicated,” she said.
“If there is truth in the allegations (or in some of them), stern and
appropriate action must follow,” she stressed.
She also said that the response of Ahmad Fairuz yesterday that he has no comment
was “unacceptable but telling”.
"At present there's no denial of any form from the chief justice and that
concerns us," she said, adding that the council will not press Ahmad Fairuz for
his explanations as he has given a clear signal by saying that he has no comment
regarding the issue.
She added that the council also felt that disciplinary charges should be
levelled against lawyer VK Lingam for his role in ‘judge fixing’ as shown in the
video clip.
She explained that Lingam would be referred to the council's advocates and
solicitors disciplinary board headed by Khalid Ahmad for further actions to be
taken against him.
The eight-minute clip, which was revealed by PKR’s de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim
on Wednesday, showed Lingam on the telephone with what appeared to be Ahmad
Fairuz based on the context of the conversation, talking about appointing
‘friendly’ judges.
The clip was recorded in 2002, at a time when Ahmad Fairuz was the Chief Judge
of Malaya.
Ambiga added that the council also disagreed with Attorney-General Abdul Gani
Patail's statement that there were no criminal elements involved in the video
clip.
"It is only timely for an thorough investigation to be conducted. The prime
minister said that an investigation will be carried out. We just want the
investigation to be in the form of royal commission."
Yesterday prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi rejected calls for a royal
commission, stating a police investigation, which was already underway, was
sufficient.
Don’t shoot the messenger
The Bar Council was also disappointed with the official responses that sought to
divert attention to the whistleblower, and threaten possible action against such
person should the allegations turn out to be untrue.
“To do so at this stage casts serious doubts on the willingness of the
authorities to properly and impartially investigate the matter,” Ambiga said.
“It will instead be a case of shooting the messenger.”
She said that any hint of impropriety in the judiciary must be investigated
swiftly and in a thorough and transparent manner, so that the public was assured
that there was no cover up.
“The Bar Council calls upon the government to immediately appoint a royal
commission of inquiry into the incident and into the state of the judiciary,”
she added.
“Let us find out what really went on (and goes on) in the judiciary. Let us not
continue to be in a state of denial,” she said.
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