©Malaysiakini
(Used by permission)
An apology by the government for the 1988 judicial crisis is not sufficient to
induce real reform, said former United Nations special rapporteur on the
independence of judges and lawyers Param Cumaraswamy.
In a statement, he said Zaid Ibrahim – the new minister tasked to oversee
judicial reform – must understand that punitive measures must be taken against
the perpetrators.
"Glossing over the events of 1988 by a mere apology from the present government
will be seen as subscribing to impunity of people in high places thereby
defeating the very essence of accountability in public administration," he
added.
In 1988, Mahathir had convened a special tribunal to try then lord president
Salleh Abbas on charges of misconduct and for questioning constitutional
amendments that seriously eroded the powers of the judiciary. Salleh was
subsequently sacked.
Supreme Court judges George Seah and Wan Sulaiman – who had ruled that the
tribunal was convened unconstitutionally – were also sacked after being found
guilty of misconduct by another tribunal.
Three other judges – Azmi Kamaruddin, Eusoffe Abdoolcader and Wan Hamzah Mohamed
Salleh were suspended.
Some have described the dismissal of the top judges from the supreme court –
then the highest court, now renamed the federal court – as Malaysia’s darkest
hours in its judicial history.
Pressure for the government to reform the legal sphere has since doubled
following the explosive expose of the Lingam tape last year.
Zaid has been instructed by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahamd Badawi to look into
ways of reforming the judiciary.
Following this, the new minister suggested that the government make a formal
apology over the 1988 crisis and the proposal is being discussed by the cabinet.
Get the facts right
Meanwhile, Param also asked Zaid to get his facts right as the comparison of the
proposed apology to other nations that have apologised for transgressions
committed on their people was far from correct.
Param said that these nations employed thorough measures to bring the
perpetrators to justice in the form of a commission.
According to the former UN special rapporteur, Zaid would be the best person to
identify the culprits of the 1988 judicial crisis as he was the president of the
Muslim Lawyers Association at that time.
"The group was widely reported as supporting the action taken against the judges
by the (former premier Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad) administration and he (Zaid) was
highly critical of the actions of the Bar Council for the position it took in
defence of the independent judges," he said.
"While I applaud Zaid for seeking greater transparency, accountability and
honesty in the government yet he must be seen as consistent and adhering to
these values," he added.