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 ©Malaysiakini (Used by permission)
by Beh Lih Yi
A special session on the explosive ‘Lingam tape’ that has ignited an uproar in
the legal fraternity will be featured at the three-day 14th Malaysian Law
Conference beginning Monday.
The video clip, showing a senior lawyer brokering judicial appointment allegedly
with a top judge, will be shown before more than 600 people who have registered
for the conference.
The conference organising chair Roger Tan said the session titled
‘What’s next after the Lingam tape?’ will be featured on the final day of the
event and to gather views from the participants.
“We will want more participation from the floor and audience (than the speakers)
in that session,” Tan, a Bar Council member, told Malaysiakini.
Perak Sultan, PM to attend
More than 2,000 lawyers took part in an unprecedented 3.5km march on Sept 26 to
call on the government to form a royal commission of inquiry to probe issues
raised in the clip.
Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim was alleged to be on the other end
of the phone conversation with lawyer VK Lingam shown in the 2002 clip.
Ahmad Fairuz, due to retire on Nov 1 but has since sought an extension of his
service, has denied his involvement through a cabinet minister. He was the chief
judge of Malaya in 2002.
The biennial law conference came at an interesting point for the judiciary,
where from the royalties to the rank-and-file in society have expressed their
concern on the judiciary’s integrity that was put under question, especially
after the clip’s emergence.
“We consider (more than 600 participants) as a record in recent years,” said Tan
on the people who have registered so far and attributed this to the “topical
issues” to be discussed at the event.
Lawyers are said to be anxiously looking forward to the opening address from one
of the most senior Rulers, the outspoken Perak Sultan, Sultan Azlan Shah who
will officiate the conference.
The former lord president will deliver an address on the ‘50 years of
Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law’.
Lawyers also wonder whether any announcement on the chief justice’s tenure will
be made by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who will deliver a keynote
address on the same day.
The three-day conference is scheduled to be closed by de facto law minister Mohd
Nazri Abdul Aziz, who has launched his salvo against the lawyers and branded
them as “crazy” over the ‘Lingam tape’ controversy.
Wide range of topics
Other speakers include prominent practitioners both domestically and
international, as well as academicians, journalists, professionals and those
from non-governmental organisations.
A comprehensive selection of topics will be covered at the conference - from the
Federal Constitution, the country’s legal system after 50 years, the rights of
the stateless and indigenous people, freedom of expression in arts, freedom of
information to the role of Asean in Burma.
There will also be a special address from Inspector General-of-Police Musa
Hassan on ‘200 years of police and 50 years of independence - the Royal
Malaysian Police experience’.
Despite the wide range of topics, Tan said the conference will zoom into various
issues related to the Federal Constitution and its development 50 years after
Independence.
“The emphasis will be on the Federal Constitution, the basic law of the land. It
is something that we would like to examine,” he stressed.
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Why have the organisers chosen Nazri to give the closing speech? Why have the organisers asked him to speak at all? Didn't any of them realise that having him around ipso facto undermines the legitimacy and standing the conference seeks to achieve?
Puteri Shehnaz Majid