Mengadap ke Bawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Yang di–Pertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan, Tuanku Muhriz Ibni Almarhum Tuanku Munawir, Duli Yang Maha Mulia Tunku Ampuan Besar Negeri Sembilan, Tuanku Aishah Rohani binti Almarhum Tengku Besar Mahmud.
Ampun Tuanku beribu–ribu ampun, sembah patek mohon diampun.
Terlebih dahulu patek bagi Majlis Peguam ingin merafak sembah menjunjung kasih yang tidak terhingga, di atas perkenan Duli Tuanku berdua, mencemar duli berangkat ke majlis “Pelancaran Syarahan Perdana Raja Aziz Addruse” dengan kerjasama Persatuan Kehormat Alumni Lincoln’s Inn Malaysia pada pagi ini.
Ampun Tuanku.
Patek dengan segala hormat dan takzimnya memohon izin, limpah perkenan Duli Tuanku untuk meneruskan ucapan kepada barisan tetamu yang hadir dalam Bahasa Inggeris.
Yang Amat Mulia Tunku Besar Seri Menanti, Tunku Ali Redhauddin ibni Tuanku Muhriz;
Yang Amat Mulia Tunku Zain Al–Abidin ibni Tuanku Muhriz;
Mrs Addruse;
Mr Lim Chee Wee, President of Malaysian Bar;
Dato’ Seri Gopal Sri Ram (Vice President of The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn Alumni Association of Malaysia);
Yang Arif–Yang Arif Judges of the Court of Appeal and High Court;
Raja Azrine Addruse and Jonathan Rogers, Raja Adeline Addruse and Cassidy;
Friends of Raja Aziz Addruse;
Members of the diplomatic corps; and
Esteemed colleagues at the Bar.
Welcome to the Inaugural Raja Aziz Addruse Memorial Lecture. This inaugural memorial lecture is organised by the Malaysian Bar in collaboration with The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn Alumni Association of Malaysia. As the name indicates, this is a lecture in memory of Raja Aziz Addruse, our President thrice over.
As most of you would have heard earlier this morning at the Dedication and Naming of this auditorium as the Raja Aziz Addruse Auditorium, Raja Aziz Addruse – or Ungku, as most of us fondly and respectfully called him – was the very best amongst us.
Many things have been related this morning about Ungku. I would thus not take up too much of your time in adding to that. I am certain that many of us have our own wonderful and cherished experiences and memories of Ungku, and there would be other times for us to recount these experiences and memories.
For this occasion, it would be appropriate for me to recount what most of you already know, that Raja Aziz Addruse was, in his long and distinguished career at the Bar, a firm advocate of the Rule of Law, a staunch supporter of the Constitution and a foremost defender of human rights, fearlessly speaking out and acting against abuse and injustice. A gentle man with such fierce convictions, soft–spoken yet speaking hard–hitting truths.
As Members of the Malaysian Bar, we are often reminded of our core guiding principle – and permit me here to paraphrase it – that is, “to uphold the cause of justice without regard to our own interests, to act without fear or favour.”
Ladies and gentlemen,
“To act without fear” is not to have no fear; it is to have the ability to overcome fear or to act in spite of it. The cause of justice demands this of the Members of the Malaysian Bar, and Ungku exemplified it: there is no advocate I know who has conducted and carried himself truer to this core principle of the Bar.
He applied himself similarly in his service to the Bar. He was our friend, mentor and leader. The Bar often called upon Ungku and he always answered, and gave to us tirelessly. He was our conscience, strength and inspiration. Whenever we were in doubt we would seek his guidance, when the administration of justice and the Bar were under attack we looked to him for leadership and strength. He was our sail and compass, our shield and sword.
In the past few months, many people have made suggestions on what the Bar could do to honour its most distinguished President. A few had suggested a lecture series to be instituted in memory of Raja Aziz Addruse. Chief amongst them was Dato’ Seri Gopal Sri Ram (Vice President of The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn Alumni Association of Malaysia). After consultation with Mrs Addruse and the family, it was decided by Bar Council to institute the Raja Aziz Addruse Memorial Lecture.
This inaugural lecture is thus proudly organised by Bar Council in collaboration with The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn Alumni Association of Malaysia. I wish to thank The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn Alumni Association of Malaysia and the High Commission of India in Malaysia for their invaluable support and contributions toward this event. I would like to acknowledge the presence today of Mrs Addruse, Azrine, Adeline and Jonathan, Dato’ Seri Gopal Sri Ram (Vice President of The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn Alumni Association of Malaysia), Dato’ Mary Lim (Honorary Secretary of The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn Alumni Association of Malaysia), and HE Vijay K Gokhale (High Commissioner of India).
Hereafter, the Raja Aziz Addruse Memorial Lecture will feature permanently as a plenary session of the biennial International Malaysia Law Conference, which is organised by the Malaysian Bar. The Dedication and Naming of the Raja Aziz Addruse auditorium this morning serves to honour the man. It is intended that these Memorial Lectures will serve as occasions to remind ourselves, and future Members of the Bar, of the principles which were dear to Raja Aziz Addruse and which he fought to uphold, namely, the sanctity of the Rule of Law, the primacy of the Constitution, the inviolability of Fundamental Liberties, the integrity of the Administration of Justice, and the importance of a strong and independent Bar.
Today’s Inaugural Memorial Lecture marks the commencement of an event significant to the Malaysian Bar. It is therefore a great privilege for us to have the eminent and distinguished jurist, Justice J S Verma, the former Chief Justice of India, to be present to deliver the Inaugural Raja Aziz Addruse Memorial Lecture entitled “Humane Governance: Imperative for Human Rights”.
Justice Verma is no stranger to our shores and is familiar to many of us. His sterling legal and judicial career is renowned and marked with many accomplishments and accolades. Permit me to highlight some of these by way of formal introduction.
Justice Verma was born on 18 January 1933. He obtained the degrees of Bachelor of Science and Legum Baccalaureus, or LLB, from the Allahabad University, and subsequently enrolled at the Bar in 1955. He was appointed a Judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh in 1972, its Chief Justice in 1985, and was subsequently appointed the Chief Justice of the High Court of Rajasthan in 1986.
Justice Verma was twice the Acting Govenor of Rajasthan between 1987 and 1989.
In 1989, he was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of India, and was on 25 March 1997 appointed the Chief Justice of India. Justice Verma was also the Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of India from 4 November 1999 to 18 January 2003.
During his time on the Bench, Justice Verma was known for his judicial integrity, intellect and progressiveness, particularly in the field of Constitutional law. His judgments in cases like Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan AIR 1997 SC 3011 and Nilabati Behera v. State of Orissa AIR 1993 SC 1960, to name but two, are landmark pronouncements in their progressive interpretation and application of the Constitution.
In Vishaka, the Constitutional right to life and guarantee of gender equality were read to include the right of women to work and earn a living with human dignity, free from sexual harassment and abuse. In construing these provisions, it was held that, “It is now an accepted rule of judicial construction that regard must be had to international conventions and norms for construing domestic law when there is no inconsistency between them. . . Any international Convention not inconsistent with the fundamental rights and in harmony with its spirit must be read into these provisions to enlarge the meaning and content thereof, to promote the object of the constitutional guarantees.”
In Nilabati, the Supreme Court established: (a) the right of a person to claim in public law for compensation for contravention of human rights and fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the constitution, as a remedy for enforcement and protection of such rights, and that this right is distinct from any right of action in tort in private law; and (b) that the burden of proof in cases of death in custody is reversed and that it is the responsibility of the detaining authorities to proffer a plausible explanation for the death which would be consistent with their innocence.
Justice Verma’s judgement in Nilabati has been used in several jurisdictions, not least by us, the Malaysian Bar, when we cited and relied upon it in our submissions in the recently–concluded Royal Commission of Inquiry into the death of Teoh Beng Hock.
Justice Verma was also the Chairman of the “Panel of Eminent Persons to Review the 1988 Judicial Crisis in Malaysia”, established on 22 September 2007 jointly by the Malaysian Bar, LAWASIA, the International Bar Association and Transparency International (Malaysia). The crisis saw the dismissal of then–Lord President Tun Salleh Abas and two Supreme Court Judges, and precipitated the darkest period of our legal history; a blight on our nation. The work and report of Justice Verma and the other members of the Panel of Eminent Persons, dated 26 July 2008, was an important factor in the government’s subsequent decision to apologise to, and compensate, the wronged judges. Justice Verma and members of the said Panel have done a great service for the administration of justice and this nation.
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is with much pleasure that the Malaysian Bar and The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn Alumni Association of Malaysia invite Justice Verma to deliver the Inaugural Raja Aziz Addruse Memorial Lecture.
Ampun Tuanku beribu–ribu ampun, sembah patek mohon diampun.
Sekian sahaja ucapan patek. Akhir kata patek mewakili pihak penganjur ingin merafak sembah menjunjung kasih yang tidak terhingga, di atas perkenan Duli Yang Maha Mulia Yang Dipertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan, Tuanku Muhriz Ibni Almarhum Tuanku Munawir, Duli Yang Maha Mulia Tunku Ampuan Besar Negeri Sembilan,Tuanku Aishah Rohani binti Almarhum Tengku Besar Mahmud mencemar duli berangkat ke majlis “Pelancaran Syarahan Perdana Raja Aziz Addruse” pada pagi ini.
Ampun Tuanku.
Christopher Leong
Vice–President
Malaysian Bar
29 October 2011