KUALA LUMPUR, Thurs: HRH Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah, the Sultan of Perak,
will be opening the 14th Malaysian Law Conference at the Kuala Lumpur Convention
Centre on 29 October this year.
The 79-year-old monarch is also a legal luminary in his own own right, having made his mark
as the Lord President in the 1980s before his installation as the Ruler of
the State famous for tin mining.
The three-day conference, in line with the 50th Independence Day, will have as
its theme “50 Years of Merdeka”.
The obvious choice of the organising committee to open the Conference, it cannot
be gainsaid that the Sultan's contribution to the development of law and
Constitution in this country is enormous, and the law reports are replete with
his well-reasoned judgments.
As a judge, his notion of fairness and justice has inspired many a law student, lawyer, prosecutor and judge. In one of the most celebrated cases involving a prince who was charged and convicted of causing hurt to a subject, Sultan Azlan Shah asked what was justice if it was not just and he had this to say:
"Today it is not so much the respondents who are on trial but
justice itself. How much justice is justice? If the courts strive to maintain a
fair balance between the two scales i.e. the interest of the accused person and
the interest of the community, then I must say justice is just.
"The aims of justice must be balance and fairness. No tenderness for the
offender can be allowed to obscure that aim. The concept of fairness must not be
strained till it is narrowed to a filament. We must keep the balance true.
"...The record, to my mind, reads more like pages torn from some mediaeval times
than a record made within the confines of a modern civilization. The keynote of
this whole case can be epitomised by two words -- sadistic brutality -- every
corner of the case from beginning to the end, devoid of relief or palliation.
"I have searched diligently amongst the evidence, in an attempt to discover some
mitigating factor in the conduct of the respondent, which would elevate the case
from the level of pure horror and bestiality; and ennoble it at least upon the
plane of tragedy. I must confess, I have failed. It is said ... that the
complainants were involved in smuggling goods into this country. Were they 10
times involved, or were they 100 times involved, that did not justify the
respondent to inflict brutal third-degree practices on the three of them. The
law is sedulous in giving them the right to a fair trial and to be defended by
counsel. Those fundamental rights must always be kept inviolate and inviolable,
however crushing the pressure of incriminating proof.
"Cases are never tried in police stations, but in open courts to which the
public has access. The rack and torture chamber must not be substituted for the
witness stand. That right is enshrined in our Constitution -- "No person shall
be deprived of his life, or personal liberty save in accordance with law." That
fundamental right implies that no person is punishable or can be lawfully made
to suffer in body except for a distinct breach of law proved in a court of law.
All this reduces to the minimum the possibility of arbitrariness and oppression."
Turning to the little Napoleons, one is often reminded by Sultan Azlan Shah's words, said
trenchantly in Pengarah Tanah dan Galian, Wilayah Persekutuan v Sri Lempah
Enterprise Sdn Bhd. 1979:
"Every legal power must have legal limits, otherwise there is dictatorship. In
particular, it is a stringent requirement that discretion should be exercised
for a proper purpose, and that it should not be exercised unreasonably. In other
words, every discretion cannot be free from legal restraint; where it is wrongly
exercised, it becomes the duty of the courts to intervene. The courts are the
only defence of the liberty of the subject against departmental aggression. In
these days when government departments and public authorities have such great
powers and influence, this is a most important safeguard for the ordinary
citizen: so that the courts can see that these great powers and influence are
exercised in accordance with law. I would once again emphasize what has often
been said before, that ‘public bodies must be compelled to observe the law and
it is essential that bureaucracy should be kept in its place’, (per Danckwerts
LJ in Bradbury v London Borough of Enfield (1967) 3 All ER 434 at p 442.”
As regards the Constitution which he described as the social
contract between the races of this country, Sultan Azlan Shah said at the investiture ceremony marking his 78th birthday last year that the social contract was
agreed to by all and entrenched in the Constitution.
"It was arrived at through an understanding reached by the leaders of the
different races, and religions as well as between the Rulers and the people.
"There is a need to instil in the newer generation an understanding of the
background behind the social contract which forms the backbone of the country to
avoid misunderstandings," he said.
With respect to the judiciary and law enforcement agencies,
Sultan Azlan said they must be truly independent to enhance their image and
dignity, saying that judicial independence was an essential factor to ensure
justice.
He said that the law would not be effective in dispensing justice unless its
implementation mechanism was based on procedures that were fair and transparent
and administered by judges who were qualified, independent and of high
integrity.
"Any shortcomings in the functions of the judiciary will tilt the scale of
justice as the judiciary has always been regarded as the true guardian of
justice," he said in his speech at the opening of the Sultan Azlan Shah Multaqa
and Seminar on 'Independence in the Islamic and Non-Islamic Judicial System'
in June 2004.
Sultan Azlan Shah said that the erosion of public confidence
in the judiciary's independence would ultimately lead to instability and it
would certainly take a long time and would be an arduous task to restore it.
"Besides the perception of the local community of the judiciary, the view of the
international community is also an influence in determining the image of the
judiciary of a certain country. Now, no country can stand alone and remains
immune from being assessed by interested parties, lobby groups and the
international media," he said.
Sultan Azlan Shah was born on 19 April 1928 in Batu Gajah to Sultan Yusuff
Izzuddin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Jalil Nasruddin Makhtaram Shah (reigned
1948-1963) and Toh Puan Dewangsa Khadijah binti Ahmad. He married a former
teacher, Tuanku
Bainun the Raja Perempuan of Perak, in 1955. The royal couple is blessed with
two sons and three daughters - Raja Nazrin Shah, who is also Raja Muda (Crown
Prince) of Perak, Raja Dato’ Seri Azureen, Raja Dato’ Seri Ashman Shah, Raja
Eleena and Raja Yong Sofia.
Sultan Azlan Shah received his early education at
the Government English School in Batu Gajah and the Malay College in Kuala
Kangsar. He later furthered his studies at Nottingham University in the field of
law and was conferred the Bachelor of Law in 1953. In the following year after
his graduation, Sultan Azlan Shah was admitted to the English Bar by the
Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn on 23 November 1954.
On his return from the United Kingdom, Sultan Azlan Shah first served as the
Assistant State Secretary of Perak. Thereafter, he joined the Judicial and Legal
Service of the Federation of Malaya where he served as First Class Magistrate
and as President of the Sessions Court respectively. Subsequently, he was
appointed to the following offices: Federal Legal Counsel, Deputy Public
Prosecutor, Legal Advisor of the State of Pahang and later of Johor, Registrar
of the High Court of Malaya and Chief Registrar of the Federal Court of
Malaysia.
In 1965, at the age of only 37, Sultan Azlan Shah was elevated to the Bench of
the High Court of Malaya as the youngest judge in the Commonwealth. In 1973, he
was appointed as the Federal Court Judge and six years later in 1979 he became
Chief Justice of the High Court, an office which he held until his appointment
as the Lord President of the Federal Court of Malaysia on 12 November 1982.
On 1 July 1983, Sultan Azlan Shah was appointed the Raja Muda of Perak (Crown
Prince). He was installed as the 34th Sultan of Perak on 9 December 1985.
The higher institutions of learning in Malaysia have also benefited from Sultan
Azlan Shah’s contributions. Among the many positions he held were Pro-Chancellor
of Universiti Sains Malaysia (4 October 1971 – February 1984), Chairman of the
Higher Education Advisory Council (1 November 1974 – 31 October 1976) and
Chancellor of the University of Malaya since 8 February 1986.
Sultan Azlan Shah was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Literature by the
University of Malaya on 30 June 1979 and an Honorary Doctorate of Law by
Universiti Sains Malaysia on 28 June 1980. His outstanding achievements are also
recognized by foreign universities; the University of Nottingham conferred on
him an Honorary Doctorate of Law on 11 July 1986 followed by Lincoln’s Inn,
London which awarded him “Honorary Bencher” in 1988. He was also awarded an
Honorary Doctorate of Law by Gajah Mada University, Jogyakarta, Indonesia on 28
September 1990; Brunei Darussalam University on 30 October 1990 and University
of Chulalongkorn, Bangkok, Thailand on 19 December 1990. On 2 October 1991, he
was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of
Edinburgh.
Sultan Azlan Shah’s enthusiasm for sports, hockey in particular, began during
his school days. His Royal Highness stepped down as the President of Malaysian
Hockey Federation in 2005 but remains as the President of the Asian Hockey and
Vice-President of FIH (International Hockey Federation). Other than hockey His
Royal Highness is an avid golfer. He is the Royal
Patron of the following student, graduate, professional and charitable clubs and
associations namely: the Malaysian Law Society in Great Britain and Eire; the
British Graduates Association of Malaysia; the Academy of Medicine of Malaysia;
National Cancer Association of Malaysia; W.W.F. Malaysia; the Rotary Club; the
Lions Club; the Royal Ipoh Club and the Royal Perak Golf Club; the Iskandar Polo
Club, Ipoh; the Kuala Kangsar Golf Club; the Malaysian Nature Society and the
Perak Veteran Hockey Association.
As a token of appreciation, the orchid Doritinosis Sultan Azlan Shah was named
after Sultan Azlan Shah. This orchid won the ‘Best Plant’ award in its category
during the Domestic Tourism Expo of Perak in 1992.
Sultan Azlan Shah was the ninth Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia from 26 April
1989 to 25 April 1994.
References:
Malaysian Monarchy
Wikipedia
Official Webpage of the Office of the Sultan of Perak