Dato Hishamudin Yunus – Lord Denning of Malaysia

Nicole Tan Lee Koon

Here is a man who stood his ground and fought for justice despite knowing the consequences for doing so.

Dato Hishamudin retired as a Court of Appeal judge recently. He should have been elevated if not for the judicial appointment and elevation based on patronage and cronyism.

His landmark decisions were whiffs of fresh air in a cauldron of bad decisions. Bad decisions that were made in order to court favours and elevations. Pun intended.

His Court of Appeal decision that cross dressing due to a medical condition called Gender Identity Disorder is constitutional was overturned by the Federal Court.

His decisions are all in line with the Federal Constitution unlike the above mentioned bad decisions which gave precedence to minor laws over the Federal Constitution.

These bad decisions were made because judges do not conform to the Hercules model that was expounded by Dworkin. Hercules is a superhuman judge who acts without fear or favour. Sadly this is not the case in our current judiciary. Like fish, the rot started from the head downwards.

As long as the appointment and elevation  goes through the door of one man ie Najib,  we can be rest assured that there will be no Hercules elevated. As Hercules tends to make decisions against the government. Well, let me rephrase that. Make decisions against bad government. Unless we appoint a Hercules as a Chief Justice, we have to contend with bad decisions with bright sparks like Dato Hishamudin and Judge Komala here and there.