Cleaning up the Judiciary – was the Chief Justice right?
Art Harun
When I first read the news report in the Star that YAA Tan Sri Zaki, the Chief Justice, had told 2 errant High Court Judges to voluntarily resign, my initial reaction was one of pleasure.
I thought it was good that the CJ has finally cracked the whip and told these useless Judges to leave the Judiciary. However, after having thought about this issue with a little bit more depth, I am now hesitant to say that it was a good move by the Chief Justice.
Our Judiciary was among the best in the Commonwealth prior to 1988. We had people of absolute integrity and capable of serving justice with the highest standard of knowledge of the law coupled with flawless judicial temperament. Tun Suffian was highly regarded as among the finest. His Majesty the Sultan of Perak, Raja Azlan Shah was among the best. Tan Sri Eusoffee Abdool Cadeer, who would scold Counsel in Latin, could teach a thing or two about the law even to some British law Lords themselves. And at the lower rung of the Courts, we had Judges such as Dato’ VC George; Dato’ Mahadev Shanker; Dato’ NH Chan; Dato’ Razak Abu Samah, Tan Sri Harun Hashim et al. It was indeed a pleasure and an honour for me, as a young Counsel then, to appear before all these legal giants.
Of course the regime of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad had to change it all in 1988. Just after the highest Court of the land, led by none other than Tun Salleh Abbas had bent over backward to appease the Government in the UEM vs Lim Kit Siang case – and in the process set our administrative law back by about 50 years! – Tun Salleh was himself subjected to the ignominy of having to defend himself before a doubtful tribunal. The rest is history.
