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LAWYERS' CALL: Malaysian lawyers and other legal professionals chanting
slogans in front of the Prime Minister's Department building on Wednesday.
Thousands of lawyers defied police to stage a protest demanding a probe into
allegations that a lawyer had fixed judicial appointments with a senior
judge. -- PHOTO: AFP |
©The
Straits Times, Singapore (Used by permission)
Views are split on whether allegation against lawyer will hasten reform
By Leslie Lopez, South-east Asia Correspondent
A DAMNING video-recording that implicates a prominent Malaysian lawyer allegedly
attempting to broker the promotion of judges has once again put the country's
troubled judiciary on trial.
And like many times over the past two decades, analysts and lawyers are mixed in
their views on whether this latest flashpoint will push the institution on the
path of recovery.
The video recording, which was released last week by former deputy premier and
current opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, has set off a heated public debate and
forced the government to establish a three-man panel to investigate the matter.
Some lawyers believe that the move by Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi to
investigate the video recording suggests that the Premier is serious about
reforming the Malaysian judiciary.
'This whole episode presents the government with a golden opportunity to push
for a clean-up, and the three-man panel is a very good start,' says Mr Tommy
Thomas, one of Malaysia's most senior constitutional lawyers.
Others are not so sanguine.
Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, a prominent Kuala Lumpur lawyer and an outspoken
parliamentarian from Datuk Seri Abdullah's ruling party, says that the
government had to establish the panel to quell the widening public controversy.
'But the big question is the commitment to get to the bottom of this,' he says.
'I don't get the feeling that pushing for an independent judiciary is a big
priority for the government.'
The latest controversy revolves around the release of a video recording of an
individual, who resembles a prominent lawyer, talking on a mobile phone,
discussing the promotion of judges, including the appointment of the country's
next chief judge.
The grainy eight-minute recording, which was taken in 2002, does not show nor
identify the person being spoken to.
At the time, Malaysia's chief judge was Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah, who was due
to retire in 2003.
The video shows the individual voicing his concern over the line-up of the
judges then.
It also highlights his desire to ensure that Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim,
who at that time was the judiciary's No. 3 most senior judge, is promoted to the
No. 2 position so that he could replace the retiring Tun Dzaiddin.
Months after the taped conversation, Tun Ahmad Fairuz was appointed deputy chief
judge in December 2002. He went on to replace Tun Dzaiddin the following year.
The startling video recording caps nearly 20 years of tumultuous twists and
turns in the Malaysian judiciary.
Once widely considered to be one of the more independent institutions in
Malaysia, the judiciary fell on hard times after a confrontation with former
premier Mahathir Mohamad in 1988.
That face-off led to the suspension of six Supreme Court judges and the
subsequent removal of three of them, including the head of the judiciary.
Throughout the early 1990s, the judiciary came under regular attack because of
controversial decisions involving disputes in commercial transactions.
But the most severe attacks came with the widely publicised trials of Datuk Seri
Anwar after he was sacked in 1998 when he clashed with Tun Dr Mahathir.
The current case also has a familiar ring to it, according to lawyers.
In mid-2000, Malaysia's Bar Council, which represents the country's
approximately 9,000 lawyers, demanded a public inquiry into pictures posted on
the Internet which showed former chief judge Tun Eusoff Chin posing with Datuk
V.K. Lingam, a prominent lawyer who appeared regularly in court, on a trip to
New Zealand.
But the Mahathir administration at the time rejected those calls, saying that
there was nothing improper about the judge's behaviour.
Several lawyers say that the government's reaction could be different this time
around.
Unlike Tun Dr Mahathir, who never hid his disdain for the judiciary and lawyers,
Datuk Seri Abdullah is different.
The Premier had served under two former premiers - the late Tun Abdul Razak and
the late Tun Hussein Onn - who were lawyers and recognises the importance of a
strong judiciary, say supporters.
They say that in recent months, Datuk Seri Abdullah has shown that he appears to
be serious about reform in the judiciary.
Early this month, Datuk Seri Abdullah pleasantly surprised lawyers and
opposition politicians when he ignored recommendations by the current chief
justice, Tun Ahmad Fairuz, for the promotion of judges to senior judicial
positions.
Instead, the Prime Minister appointed two widely respected judges to the vacant
positions and, in the process, made them the front runners for the post of chief
justice when Tun Ahmad Fairuz retires in November.
While the recent creation of the panel to investigate the video recording is
short of the demand by lawyers for the setting up of a Royal Commission of
Inquiry, lawyers such as Mr Thomas say 'the panel should be given a chance'.
Datuk Zaid is not optimistic. He says that if the Abdullah administration is
serious about judicial reform, it should start by diluting the government's
interference in the judiciary.
For example, the government should establish a more transparent system in the
appointment of judges, which is now being handled by the chief judge.
'It would be all right if there was a tradition of getting it right. But that
hasn't been the case,' he says.
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