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AG should not appear before sessions court PDF Print E-mail
Contributed by Param Cumaraswamy   
Wednesday, 12 December 2007 07:14am

AG©The Sun (letters Section) (Used by permission)
by Param Cumaraswamy
(former UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers)

WHILE the Attorney-General legally has a right of audience before all courts in Malaysia, he should not personally appear for the prosecution before sessions and magistrate’s courts.

The Attorney-General is a member of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission. This commission appoints, promotes and disciplines session judges and magistrates. These are provided for in Articles 138 and 144 of the Constitution.

His appearance before these judicial officers could be intimidating and as such could affect their independence and impartiality particularly when their promotions depend on the Attorney-General being one of the members of the commission.

The court should not only be independent and impartial but also must be seen to be so particularly by those who appear before it.

The Attorney-General should therefore withdraw from personally appearing before the sessions court in Shah Alam in the trial of the 31 charged for offences arising from the Nov 25 Hindraf demonstration.

Comments (1)Add Comment
Same AG?
written by Ng Hong Chai, Wednesday, December 12 2007 07:59 am

Is it the same AG who changed the Prosecutor in the Altantuya case on the grounds of him having played badminton with the presiding Judge?

It appeared to have happened so long ago so cannot remember which AG was it.

If it is the same AG then is it double standard being practised?

Ng Hong Chai


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