The Malaysian Bar - Institution alone no guarantee of a country’s success, says expert

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Institution alone no guarantee of a country’s success, says expert

Monday, 31 October 2011 01:03pm

©The Star (Used by permission)
by SHAILA KOSHY

KUALA LUMPUR: It is not the form of government but the quality of those who govern and their vision that determine a country’s present and future, said former Chief Justice of India Justice J.S. Verma.

Quoting Nobel prize-winning economist Amartya Sen, Justice Verma said the mere existence of democratic institutions was no automatic guarantee of success.

“A polity governed by the rule of law is the instrument to ensure the desired result,” he added.

Justice Verma said this at the Raja Aziz Addruse Memorial Lecture when speaking on “Humane Governance: Imperative for Human Rights.”

Justice Verma, who described the late Raja Aziz as a champion of human rights and advocate for humane governance, said the former three-time Malaysian Bar president “would have done any Bar in the world proud.”

The inaugural lecture on Saturday was organised by the Bar Council in collaboration with the Lincoln’s Inn Alumni Association of Malaysia, of which Raja Aziz was an alumnus.

Justice Verma described the characteristics of governance as inclusive democracy, governed by the rule of law and being accountable to the people from whom it derives the authority to govern.

Citing a case involving former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, he said “rule of law is the modality which synthesises ‘law’ and ‘liberty’ in a manner that the ‘law’ does not become tyranny and ‘liberty’ does not become ‘licence’.”

Referring to the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Justice Verma said a social order accountable to human rights is the same as humane governance.

“The stakes are too high in not treating human rights as an indispensable way of life.”

He said the agenda for the 21st century was an onerous one because of the need to empower the people and develop strategies that aim at their development capabilities.

“Human development, if not engendered, is fatally endangered,” he said, quoting a 1995 UN report.

If South Asian leaders want to succeed in poverty eradication, a foremost MDG for a region where disparities are more pronounced, he said policy interventions must invest in human infrastructure.

“While economic growth is necessary, distributive justice is needed to reduce inequalities.”

Quoting Ejaz Ghani in the 2010 book The Poor Half Billion in South Asia, Justice Verma said: “Policymakers should primarily invest in people when it comes to lagging regions, and invest in places when it comes to leading regions.”

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