Wednesday 22 August 2007

Tribunal

I read in the papers this morning that the Chief Justice had issued a warning to all judges that any misbehaviour by them could mean the setting up of a tribunal. I am glad when anyone in power declares his or her intentions of cleaning up.

The first time I heard of a tribunal being set up to 'discipline' a judge and thereafter a few judges was many-many years ago. The intention was 'to get rid' of the Chief Justice of the day. The initiator of the act was none other than the much revered, can-do-no-wrong, it-seemed-spotless-clean, champion-of-all, cleverest-man-in-the-world, most-compassionate, fighter-for-freedom, hater-of-corruption, will-not-have-any-corrupt-minister-in-his-cabinet, ex PM, The Venerable Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. The whole proceeding was clouded in mystery and suddenly the outcome: the expulsion of the Chief Justice for misconduct. The term misconduct as the present Chief Justice had implied is a very general term. I wonder if farting in court is a misconduct? I think it depends on who the PM of the day is.

I was and still am of the opinion that the dismissed ex-Chief Justice was axed because of the inability to perform an easy act. During the Look East era, Japan and Korea was looked upon as Kingdoms of Heaven where easy loans are obtained to sponsor well connected locals to embark on money wasting projects, guaranteed by the PM of the day. One of the main characteristics of these angels from heaven is their trademark 'bow'. The ex-Chief Justice, it seemed, couldn't master the act of 'bowing'. While to the Japanese and Koreans, bowing is a tradition, our PM of that day misconstrued it as ascending to the wishes of masters or in plain English, (is it English?) kow-tow. The man doesn't kow-tow to the wishes of his Lords and he was removed. Oh, by the way, it is this same Lord who is now screaming for justice.

I hope the call of the present Chief Justice is not a veiled threat that kow-towing or the inability to perform the act is also a misconduct. He did mention that bias judging can be seen as a misconduct and I fully agree with him. I was hoping that he would spend more time in talking about corrupt judges and how corrupt judgments are not plain misconducts but rather criminal misconducts. I say this because I see bias judging to be closely related to corruption. Yes some judgments are simply plain bias without any elements of corruption. A judge may not like a person either because of race, religion, old feud or he /she doesn't like how that person looks. He gives a judgment against that person. This is bias judgments. What about judges accepting material rewards to influence his judgments? Surely that is criminal misconduct. What if a judge is promised promotions as inducement to sway his judgment to favour a certain party. Surely that too is criminal misconduct.

After the intervention of the Executive into the Judiciary which saw the Judiciary being downgraded as a subsidiary of the Executive, our Judiciary has not been the same anymore. The integrity of the courts has been greatly compromised. Judgments have at times been confusing and mind-boggling and downright shameful.

I hope the auspicious Chief Justice, being the man of integrity that he is with this noble call, would initiate a serious drive towards the re-integratisation ( I know there is no such word, please help suggest a better one or we just accept and patent it) of our once proud and fiercely independent judiciary. For making that call, I salute you sir.

17 comments:

tokasid said...

salam che'gu;

I read the book abut Tun Salleh Abas written by K Das. What tranpired during that time was very volatile btwn the then CJ and the then PM.
I saw this incident as a political issue. Yes there were lots of 'hot' cases especially the Kelantan girl who converted to Islam.

A friend borrowed that book and that was the last I saw of it. Tried looking in MPH and Koni...(tak ingat nama kedai Jepun kat KLCC tu) but they do not have any.That book gave a lot of insight about the politics in Justice department and the backstabbing nature of the law practitioner.

I do not think there are any difference now.Worse,maybe.

ZABS said...

Salam Che'gu,
Konichiwa, (selamat tengah hari dalam bahasa Jepun, bukan nama kedai buku tu.
Apa pun cadangan boleh dibuat Che'gu. Samaada ianya dibuat untuk kebaikan negara atau untuk kebaikan orang yang buat cadangan. Itu yang perlu diperhatikan.

Unknown said...

Doc,
I have also read some writings here and there about this matter. Coupled with the behaviour of the judiciary after this incident, especially the direction taken by Tun Hamid (is it late Tun Hamid)I am very sure that the ex PM was responsible for the rot. As for Tun Hamid I have heard first hand accounts how judgment could be bought.

Unknown said...

Zabs,
Kalau konichiwa ialah selamat tengahari apa pulak selamat petang? Ichibawa? Saya paham sangat-sangat dengan apa yang saudara imply dan I would say it has got merits. Yes, si pembuat cadangan itu pun perlu diperhatikan.

ZABS said...

"Kombawa" untuk selamat petang dan "oyasumi nasai" untuk selamat malam. "Ichi" untuk satu kalau "ichibawa" maknanya bawa satu. Dulu ada belajar Bahasa Jepun sikit2. Hehee....

monsterball said...

KTN...you are getting better and better in every message.
Yes Tun Salleh Abbas is still waiting for justice...but it will never come for him...as it will shame UMNO to see TDM proven a dictator. Small fry okay lah.
And today...it was reported a judge did not give judgment for 32 cases!!Those guys are still in jail...or few need to be hanged..no conclusive decisions..few poor innocent prisoners in jail..not freed because of tne lazy judge....or few should have already served their short sentence for mild criminal offences..turning into uncertain fate for them.
This judge should not only be dismissed...but tried and jail for being so irresponsible.
Lets wait patiently what will the current Chief Justice have to say.

Unknown said...

Monty,
Frankly I believe that there will be no justice. The whole thing is just too messy.

tokasid said...

Che'gu:

I just finished reading a non-fiction book by John Grisham : The innocent Man. It was about 2 guys convicted for rape and murder which they didn't do.The police and DA cooked up evidence and witnessess( who are snithces) and the judge just went along the DA's game plan.

After 12 years in death row( and another got life sentence), they manage to convince a law NGO to request for a re-trial. The DNAs done finally set them free. The real killer was one of the initial trial's prime witness!

And there are more of cases like that in US. Ppl wrongly convicted for crimes they didn't do and the real criminal is on the loose or off the hook.

Sounds familiar right? Like some cases in our country.

monsterball said...

KTN....it is messy...because the smart Malays in the government staffs love complications and messiness....as the UMNO leaders have shown them how to do it.
Make it professional...simple and straight forward....most will be proven idiots and we may need to import professional law makers from other countries..to run the dept.
Making it messy is an art...team work...only specialized by one one race....and Mahathir was the guru.
The others...like Samy and K.T.Ong are balls carriers....cunningly doing so for party and personal benefits....never for the people.

Unknown said...

Doc,
Exactly doc, wherever you go there will be blacksheeps in the judiciary, the prosecution and the police but the press which is now the 5th estate is freer and like it or not the guilty parties are wary, but here the judiciary, and procecution are different wings of a ministry, like twins, where is the seperation? The police tik sah cakap la, tanya budak kecik pun dia tau.

Unknown said...

Monty,
I have to agree with you here. Many are just blind followers.

Daphne Ling said...

Hi Che'gu,
You know, I feel bad for admitting this, but I am a tad bit cynical when people mention 'cleaning up'...After all, it is like some hangat-hangat tahi ayam thing when we're talking about Malaysia. Something happens (usually bad), and suddenly everyone talks about change, reform, cleaning up...But it only lasts a while...
Like this whole bus-JPJ-drivers thingy (Ok, I terpesong =))...Let's see how long this checking and keeping tabs last...
As for the judiciary, I hope it lasts. Because if we can have no justice, nothing else really matters then.

PS: I actually don't know how to address you ar...SInce everyone calls you Che'gu, I also call lor =) Sorry ar...

Unknown said...

Daphne,
How right you are. I was only giving the guy the benefit of the doubt.
Yes, pls do call me cikgu

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

aisehman cikgu...

politically i'm totally out of place here.

but just to inform u i'll be rooting for ManU tomorrow. u know what i mean...hihih

JesieBlogJourney said...

Cikgu
It makes me nervous to read about what is happening. Macam-macam alasannya.

I think the Judiciary System should be independent, separate and not be mixed with politics.

Unknown said...

Kerp,
I know what you mean, You want MU to beat the living daylight out of SPURS but I tell you this, from the 1st 3 games, I beginning to have my doubts as to MU's ability to do that but thanx for rooting for MU this once.

Unknown said...

Jesie,
Thanx for visiting. The Judiciary was always meant to be independent. It was the former PM, in order to get his ways, who killed the judiciary. Its sad.

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