Government mulls amending JAC Act to prevent confusion over judges' appointments

New Straits Times

5 days ago

PUTRAJAYA: The government will look into amending the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) Act 2009 to prevent confusion in the process of appointing judges in the country.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said that since the Act came into force in 2009, there had never been any confusion surrounding the procedure for judicial appointments.
"It must be remembered that the JAC Act was passed and gazetted in 2009 and has been applied in the appointments of five Chief Justices without issue.
"Unfortunately, it has now become a matter of contention. As such, we need to conduct a thorough review.
"We need to improve the Act because there is currently a lot of confusion and a lack of clarity from the public's perspective," she said when met at the closing ceremony of the International Governance and Integrity Conference 2025 here today.
Present were Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar.
Azalina added that the amendments were necessary to identify the root cause of the confusion in the judicial appointment process.
"Where does this confusion or lack of clarity stem from? Is it from the process itself or the terminology used, for example, the name Judicial Appointments Commission itself?
"Perhaps the word 'appointments' creates certain perceptions; I am not sure. As such, we need to conduct a study," she said.
She said her ministry would gather views from experts to ensure a comprehensive discussion could be carried out.
"There will be a comprehensive discussion. I have also invited the Bar Council to be involved from the early stages, to provide balanced perspectives and views.
"After that, I will bring the matter to the cabinet meeting to decide on the direction we should take," she said.