‘Malaysian judiciary under strain’

Press, 12 July 1988, Page 9

‘Malaysian judiciary under strain’

By

HO WAH FOON,

of Reuter NZPA-Reuter Kuala Lumpur Malaysia’s judiciary, which once enjoyed unfettered independence, is showing signs of succumbing to pressure from the authorities, lawyers say. Constant attacks by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Mahathir Mohamad, during the last two years over court rulings that have gone against the Gdvernment are having an impact, they say. The suspension last week of five Supreme Court judges by Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Omar has convinced lawyers that Justice Hamid was acting to pacify the executive.

Justice Hamid, deputy head of judiciary and acting Lord President, moved against the judges over an order they granted to stop a tribunal headed by him from hearing allegations of misbehaviour against the suspended Lord President,

Tun Mohamed Salleh Abas.

Judge Salleh was suspended on May 27. One charge against him is that he wrote to the King, Sultan Mahmood Iskandar, to express concern over what he had described as constant attacks on the judiciary by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Mahathir Mohamad.

The Bar, which represents the country’s lawyers, has called on Justice Hamid to resign, describing him as unfit to perform his duties as an acting Lord President. It also decided to sue him for contempt of court in suspending the five judges. Justice Hamid, who was unavailable for comment, was alleged to have tried to prevent the five from hearing Judge Salleh’s application by denying them use of court facilities. He has said the five were suspended for alleged bias and insubordination. Mr Mahathir has said they violated the law.

Lawyers note that many recent suits, which they say were based on clear grounds to challenge the authorities, have been dismissed. These include applications to free political prisoners on the grounds of illegal and wrongful detention.

“Judges now appear to exercise more restraint and are more guarded in interpreting the law, and invariably interpret in favour of the Government,” said a senior lawyer who asked not to be identified.

“The suspension of the five has done irreparable damage to the independence of the judiciary. The last bastion of integrity has been eroded by the judges themselves.” Yang Pei Ken, a newspaper columnist on legal affairs, notes that the country’s 22 High Court and 10 Supreme Court judges were not an organised group and could only act individually when their integrity was being challenged.

None of the judges has commented on the current dispute in spite of the strong position take by Malaysia’s lawyers, he said.

Political analysts said suspension of the five was linked to a pending court case which has a bearing on the future of Mr Mahathir’s new United Malays National Organisation (U.M.N.O. Baru) party. They were to have sat with the Supreme Court to hear an appeal by 11 party dissidents who were attempting to revive Mr Mahathir’s old U.M.N.O. Mr Mahathir formed U.M.N.O. Baru in February after a High Court declared the old U.M.N.O. illegal. It was ruling on a complaint by the 11 of alleged irregularities in a party election last year in which Mr Mahathir returned as president by a narrow margin.

Malaysian politics could plunge into confusion should the Supreme Court, the highest court in the

land, rule that old U.M.N.O. was legal, analysts said.

The social action group Aliran described the judges’ suspension as “politically motivated.” But a leading member of the ruling party, Datuk Alex Lee, said it was an “isolated case where a judge was trying to discipline his juniors.”

"The suspension is a case in isolation, not a trend. The judiciary as an independent institution is intact,” he said.

The Bar said the suspension was a further onslaught on the autonomy of the judiciary. Its members are wearing protest badges and white armbands to “Save the Judiciary.”

“The legal system will be much poorer with the exit of these judges. You are removing six top brains, whose integrity and skill in the law is not doubted,” another lawyer said.