Anwar’s Sodomy II appeal and the competing principles
Aziz Bari, The Ant Daily
It so happened that except for Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng all others who raised issue with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s surprise decision to have retired Federal Court judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram as his lead counsel were Umno-BN linked.
They include Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang, former Perkasa vice-president Zulkifli Noordin and pro-Sedition Act campaigner Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz. That notwithstanding all of them, including DAP’s Lim Lip Eng based their contention based on the Bar Council’s resolution which sought to prohibit retired superior court judges from appearing in court. The resolution was based on a common law practice. As of Oct 31, the Bar maintains its silence on the allegations of inconsistencies hurled at it.
Be that as it may, the Federal Court has ruled that it was fine for a retired judge to go back to legal practice. It is interesting that Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah himself, the lawyer hired by the Attorney-General to lead the prosecution team in this appeal at the Federal Court, did not have any objection to Gopal’s position.
Some of the points that have gone against Gopal’s position have been highlighted in this space on Sept 18, 2013. I have to concede, however, that whatever the assertions made over there, in the end what matters is what the Federal Constitution has to say. In it, as spelt out under Article 5(3), the right to counsel is supreme. The court has ruled that the only limit to this basic right is the availability and willingness of the lawyer concerned.
Thus, given the said provision as well as the Federal Court ruling which upheld Gopal’s position, Anwar’s right to choose the counsel to defend him is beyond question. It may be added that the resolution of the Bar is not a law; something which could have the effect of incapacitating Gopal from acting for the former deputy prime minister.
As far as the case for Anwar is concerned, there are indeed far more important issues than that of Gopal’s position. It may be argued that most of the issues have cast doubt on the independence of the judges presiding the case. These include the position of Shafee who is acting on behalf of the Attorney-General.
On record most of the five judges hearing Anwar’s case at the Federal Court now have, on previous occasions starting with the Perak power grab by Umno-BN in 2009, ruled against Pakatan Rakyat and the Opposition Leader. The court’s five-man-quorum comprise of Chief Justice Tun Ariffin Zakaria, Tan Sri Raus Sharif, Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Embong, Tan Sri Suriyadi Halim Omar and Datuk Ramly Ali.
