Right to seek redress in court
By Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan
[email protected]
THE present situation in Perak raises many legal and constitutional issues.
It is the view of some constitutional lawyers that the prerogative of the Ruler is "non-justiciable" and cannot be reviewed by the courts. Thus, although we, and others, are of the view that dissolution of the state legislative assembly in Perak would have been the best solution, it is difficult to challenge the prerogative of the Ruler, who exercised that prerogative by ascertaining the views of the majority of the members of the assembly and then deciding who in the "Ruler's judgment" (under the Perak Constitution) commands their confidence.
However, in the Datuk Joseph Pairin Kitingan case, such a discretion of the governor (not a Ruler) was held to be justiciable.
We are certainly in unchartered territory. Different interpretations are always possible.
Read more at: http://www.thenutgraph.com/right-to-seek-redress-in-court
