Yang Arif Datuk Halijah Bte Abbas, Judge High Court of Malaya Melaka and her distinguished husband Dr Salleh Bin Abdullah, Tuan Abu Bakar Bin Katar, Senior Sessions Court Judge Melaka and his lovely wife Puan Hapipah Bte Omar, Mr Christopher Leong, Vice President of the Malaysia Bar, members of the Judicial and Legal Services Melaka, members of the Melaka Bar distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of the Malacca Bar Committee, I welcome all of you to this Annual Dinner and Dance of the Melaka Bar. I thank all of you for all your presence which is especially heartening considering the fear of economic bad times with recession already gripping Europe and USA. Evidence of US recession has been reported. These are some examples:
During the recent Hari Raya Holidays, my family and I went to Melbourne, Australia for a short holiday. Amy and I wasted no time in bringing our 2 daughters Allysia and Allyna to our alma mater Monash University to visit our Law School. I completed my law degree there in 1987. As I returned there after many years, and stood at the entrance to the Law School, I remembered my first day as a law undergrad, my graduation and the significance of these events in my life.
I have always been interested in law but none of my family members had any background in law. Legal Studies was not a subject taught in schools. I was also under the impression that I need to know Latin before I could study law.
Who would have studied Latin in Malaysia? I thought that locus standi was a species of grasshopper and that post mortem means a dead postman. But like many of you here tonight, my colleagues at the Bar, I am glad that I followed my heart and have not regretted doing so.
As lawyers, we understand and appreciate the fundamental principles that guide the society we live in such as the rule of law, due process and the right to a fair trial, the right to silence, the privilege against self-incrimination, the presumption of innocence and the proof of guilt beyond reasonable doubt. These are principles that we often take for granted. We must not do so. The line between order and tyranny is very thin and very fragile. The people of Egypt, Libya, Zimbabwe and Burma will confirm this.
The practice of law is interesting. Every day is different. Apart from law, in the course of work we are now required to master other disciplines such as medicine, tax accounting, building engineering, accident reconstruction and weapons ballistics. We encounter people with various needs and wants. We defend men and women charged with the most horrible of crimes or appear for those who are fighting for the right to keep and see their children. We share the joys of their victories and the anguish of their defeats. We enjoy their praise when we succeed but feel the cold winds of their disappointment when we failed. For all of these people, we are their voice. They look to us for answers. What may only be a small case for us may have enormous significance for them.1
Such demands and expectations must compel us to practice our profession with integrity. Legal practitioners have professional obligations to their clients and to the court. The practice of law is a profession-by definition that means adherence to the high standards, discipline and integrity expected of professional men and women. It is not a business or a job. The public has a high expectation of the profession and that is an expectation we have to meet.
As such, treat our colleagues, our opposing counsel, witnesses and clients with courtesy and respect. Don’t be fast to claim credit or curry favour. Focus instead on doing high quality work honestly and with integrity and we will earn the respect of everybody. Stick steadfastly to our principles and always do what we believe is right. Listen to our conscience even when others are forsaking theirs in the market place.
If we live by exacting ethical standards, we will inspire confidence in others and feel pride in ourselves. All we have is our reputation and we shouldn’t trade it for anything. Remember that “we can always get another job or another client but we can’t get another reputation.” It is better to be proud of who we are, than of what we own. Our conscience is our most important constituency. If a voice inside us is saying “no one will ever know”, that is a sure sign not to do what we are considering.
Do not develop character amnesia. When faced with a dilemma, we must not choose the easy way out and forget the right thing to do. Character is who we are, its not something we forget.
My colleagues in the Bar, I urge you to practice law in ways that extend beyond your own needs and interests. Stand for election for the State Bar Committee so that at least the Chairman does not need to serve a minimum sentence of 5 years in the Chair. Serve in the various committees of the State Bar and Bar Council. Do pro bono work at the Legal Aid Centres. Speak out against injustice. Take on cases for causes. The Malaysian Bar has been blessed with luminaries like Raja Aziz Addruse, GTS Sidhu and Ambiga Sreenevasan – individuals who demonstrate not only great intellectual, skills as advocates but also possess the courage to take on the unpopular or controversial causes, sometimes in the face of mountainous public opposition even attacks from the government of the day. For the sake of the country, the Bar must never run short of such individuals.
The Bar must continue to speak up and stand up for what is right, for the oppressed, wronged and disadvantaged. Unpopularity is irrelevant. It is the administration of justice that must prevail through the application of the rule of the law. When the Bar is steadfast, courageous and determined, changes for the better will take place. The recent announcements by the PM to repeal the oppressive and regressive Internal Security Act 1960 and the Banishment Act 1959, to lift the three remaining Emergency proclamations, to review the right to freedom of speech and assembly and to abolish the requirement for annual license renewal for newspapers and publications are the results of the unceasing, determined clamor for change by various individuals and NGOs including the Bar through the years. It is a victory for the people of Malaysia. Yet the Bar must not cease to be vigilant.
My colleagues in the Bar, many of you have taken the opportunity to invite your family and friends to attend tonight’s dinner. I commend you for doing so. To succeed in our profession, we need the support of family and friends. Our family and friends are our greatest source of strength.
Family and friends readily listen to our heartaches without ever blaming us for our problems. They stand by us when we are under attack. They rejoice when we succeed and grieve when we fail. They give us wise advice so that we don’t make foolish choices. They even risk making us angry for the sake of making us right.
One of the greatest challenges we face is balancing our personal and professional lives. Clients and our work will need more time and attention than we can give. Their insatiable demands will leave us little time even for those closest to us, but don’t make that mistake. At the end of the day, our impact on the world is greatest through the people we love. We matter more to them than to anyone else. They are ready to forgive but don’t make them forgive too much. Our successes will be sweeter and our disappointments will be easier to bear, if we have the love and support of our family and friends.
Lastly, please allow me to say a few words to the members of the Bench who are here with us tonight. It is a high privilege to have the opportunity to sit as a judge and decide cases, yet it is an onerous and lonely task. It is thus critical to our justice system that individuals of experience, wisdom, knowledge, integrity and honesty be appointed to our courts.
Throughout history, we find many instances of judges unfortunately who have placed blind obeisance to the authority of the day, before their own judicial honesty and integrity and in this way become party to the perpetuation of gross injustices.
We think of the judges in Nazi Germany. These judges took no collective stand against the extermination of thousands of Jews, the passing of the Nuremburg race laws or the other horrors of Hitler’s Germany. The only known occasion on which they collectively stood up to Hitler was when they wrote a letter to him complaining of a proposed alteration in their pension rights.
The same could also be said of the majority of judges in South Africa who remained silent in the face of government sanctioned murder, torture and detention during the years of apartheid. Similarly, the judges in Chile and Argentina who averted their eyes during the years of the junta and the despised former judges in the Eastern European countries who dispatched “telephone justice” – in accordance with a call on the eve of the case as to how the state wanted it decided. Today, we have judges in countries within our own region who have allowed their office to be used to satisfy the dictates of their political masters.
Fortunately, there have been those who stood their ground. In South Africa, there was the late Justice John Didcott, whose passionate belief in justice and whose contempt for those lawyers and judges who were apologists for the gross abuse of human rights committed in that country, left him shining like a beacon. In a memorial ceremony following his death, at a special sitting of the Constitutional Court to which he had been appointed by Nelson Mandela, he was described as a friend of the weak, the bullied, the disempowered and the oppressed seeking protection from repression and tyranny.
Then there was Judge Frank M Johnson, a Judge of the District Court Alabama, a revered figure in US jurisprudence. He stood firm against racial segregation and restrained the Ku Klux Klan. Because of this, a cross was buried in the garden of his house, his mother’s house was bombed in the mistaken belief that it was his and he received death threats.2
In our country, we have been fortunate to have courageous and respected judges such as Tun Mohd Suffian, Tan Sri Eusoffe Abdoolcadeer, Dato VC George and Dato KC Vohrah. These Judges left legacies that will always be remembered. These judges have listened well to what Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote: “What is the most precious thing in the world? It seems to be the consciousness of not participating in injustice. Injustice is stronger than you are, it always was and it always will be, but let it not be committed through you.”
We are now in the midst of the Rugby World Cup competition in New Zealand. Allow me then to quote something said by Christophe La Maison, the captain of the France Rugby team following its inspirational victory over the All Blacks – “we won above all because we dared”.
It is my hope that all of our judges will be judges who are prepared to dare, to listen to their consciences and their principles, to take a stand against unjust laws and policies and will not allow injustice to be committed in their names.
In conclusion, allow me to thank primarily Datuk Kesavan, the new and energetic chairperson of the Malacca Bar Social Sub-Committee and the members of his sub-committee for their hard work in organising tonight’s function. I also thank all members who have helped in one any or another to make tonight’s function a success. Thank you for being a very attentive audience. Have a good fun evening.
NOTES:
1 See Ian G Harrison J, “Speech at University of Technology, Sydney Law Graduation Ceremony” May 2011.
2 See James Wood J, “Matters of Principles – A Reflection on the Judicial Conscience” 1999.
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Circular No 110/2012: Seminar on Introduction to ICC Arbitration: An Insight into the 2012 ICC Rules
