Judicial independence must continue under Wan Ahmad Farid, say PKR MPs

New Straits Times

17 hours ago

KUALA LUMPUR: Nine PKR members of parliament have expressed hope that the judiciary, under newly appointed Chief Justice Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, will continue efforts to strengthen judicial independence.
In a statement, they outlined five key issues that the judiciary must address following the appointment of its new leadership.
This includes finalising the appointments of judges to fill 31 vacancies as soon as possible to prevent disruptions to the administration of justice, and ensuring that judicial appointments are truly based on merit and seniority, in fairness to long-serving judges who have upheld the integrity and reputation of the judiciary.
"(They must also) ensure that judicial appointments follow the proper process under the Federal Constitution and the Judicial Appointments Commission Act (JAC), so that appointments are made based on merit and seniority;
"(This also includes) ensuring that there is no interference in the selection, control, or influence of judicial appointments that contradict the principles of judicial independence, the Federal Constitution, the JAC Act, or procedural rules that must be followed to ensure that the process is merit-based and fair to judges.
"(They must also) resolve the issues raised in previous JAC meetings, including follow-up actions to investigate allegations of attempts to influence judicial decisions made against a Federal Court judge," they said.
The nine MPs are Pandan MP Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli, Setiawangsa MP Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Puchong MP Wong Chen, Ampang MP Rodziah Ismail, Wangsa Maju MP Zahir Hassan, Balik Pulau MP Datuk Bakhtiar Wan Chik, Ledang MP Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, Sungai Siput MP S Kesavan and Batu Pahat MP Onn Abu Bakar.
They had also previously called for a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to investigate what they claimed were alleged irregularities in the appointment of senior judges, including the Chief Justice.
They had also expressed intentions to formally request that proceedings and an inquiry be conducted by the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Human Rights, Elections and Institutional Reform, including top government officials to testify.
They said the announcement that Wan Ahmad Farid has been appointed as the new Chief Justice has somewhat eased public concerns about issues related to judicial independence.
Together with the appointment of Datuk Abu Bakar Jais as President of the Court of Appeal and Datuk Azizah Nawawi as the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, they said, it completes the current leadership of the judiciary.
"The initial reaction to Wan Ahmad Farid's appointment has been mixed, given his background as a former Umno leader and his perception as being junior compared to some other judges.
"We hope that, as the new Chief Justice, Wan Ahmad Farid will accept these diverse views openly.
"These should serve as a guide and motivation to prove that his leadership will better uphold the independence of the judiciary, surpassing the outstanding record of Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, who previously held the position," they said.
They added that the recent turmoil over judicial leadership appointments highlights the need for reforms to further strengthen the judicial appointment process to prevent such issues from recurring.
Meanwhile, they also expressed hope that the government under the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim would not consider the matter fully resolved as long as improvements to the judicial appointment process are not presented to the public and implemented.
They outlined several proposals for the government to take into account.
This includes the proposal to improve the Prime Minister's power to reject nominations from the JAC, ensuring this power is limited and that the Prime Minister provides official reasons (either to the JAC or Parliament) for rejecting a candidate already screened by the JAC.
This also includes a proposal to automatically appoint representatives from the legal bodies of Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, and Sarawak to the JAC, thus reducing the Prime Minister's power to appoint the majority of JAC members as is currently the case.
"(This includes) a proposal for Parliament to be involved in confirming JAC nominations before they are brought to the Prime Minister, either in the form of confirmation hearings as in other countries, or through a parliamentary vote, with a voting mechanism to be determined later.
They said they would continue to monitor these matters.