BY GURDIAL SINGH NIJAR
(Deputy President, HAKAM)
THE chief justice of Malaysia, Tun Arifin Zakaria, has made a rather dramatic and long overdue proposal: that the Judicial and Legal Services Commission be separated. This commission, set up by the Federal Constitution, extends to all members of the judicial and legal service. The former comprises members of the judiciary – judges and magistrates; the latter are officers in the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) who fight cases on behalf of the government. The attorney-general (AG) is its head. He advises the government – the prime minister (PM), ministers, and government ministries and departments.
The commission is made up of heads of the judicial services as well as the AG. Its functions cover appointments, promotions, and transfers of members of both the judicial and legal services.
The CJ’s proposal means that the AG will not be part of a future separated Judicial Commission. This is significant. Under the present system the AG and its officers often appear before magistrates and judges who are far junior to them. A magistrate may be transferred to the AG’s Chambers. This could well affect the mind of the magistrate when deciding a case against officers from the AG’s Chambers. Read more