Jac Nominations Not Legally Binding Unless Constitution Amended

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Recommendations by the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) will only be legally binding if the Federal Constitution is amended, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said.
Until then, she said the JAC's role is only to screen, evaluate, and recommend candidates to the prime minister.
“The JAC Act is not a final step in the appointment process. It only recommends names, and these recommendations are not binding.
“For JAC’s role to be legally binding, the Constitution would need to be amended,” she was quoted as saying by Bernama today.
ADSHer remarks come amid concerns that Putrajaya had allegedly ignored JAC recommendations when the commission was headed by Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, including for her successor as chief justice as well as for the next Court of Appeal president.
The JAC was formed in 2009 in response to the VK Lingam judge fixing scandal.
It was supposed to, in theory, keep in check the prime minister's powers under the Federal Constitution to advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on judicial appointments.
However, the prime minister has considerable sway over the JAC, being able to appoint five out of nine members of the commission.
Further, the Attorney-General's Chambers had indicated last week that the prime minister can ignore the JAC recommendations for the sake of "protecting" the judiciary.
Critics have been calling for the JAC to be empowered to directly advise the king on judicial appointments, and for the prime minister not to be involved in the process.
Besides concerns over judicial appointments, there is also controversy over accusations that a senior judge was involved in judicial interference.
A leak of purported JAC meeting minutes from May appeared to corroborate the allegations which surfaced last month after a police report lodged on the judge's behalf was also leaked.
The police report was lodged in response to queries from Malaysiakini regarding the allegations.
Nine PKR lawmakers led by Rafizi Ramli are calling for a royal commission of inquiry as well as for Parliament to probe the matter.
The Malaysian Bar will march in Putrajaya tomorrow to also call for an RCI, among other demands. - Mkini

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