Judge It On Facts Says Tengku Maimun On Judicial Independence

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Former chief justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat has stressed that the issue of judicial integrity should not be turned into a debate between two or more parties.
ADSInstead, said Tengku Maimun, it should be assessed based on accurate facts and records.
“We should not make this a debate between two or more parties,” she told reporters after attending the swearing-in ceremony for the president of the Court of Appeal, chief judges of Sabah and Sarawak, Court of Appeal judges, and High Court judges in Putrajaya today.
Tengku Maimun (above) was responding to questions about allegations of interference within the judiciary.
In his farewell speech last week, former chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak, Abdul Rahman Sebli, claimed that while he was still in office, a “senior judge” had attempted to pressure him into changing one of his rulings.
Rahman described the incident as an example of internal judicial interference – something that should be opposed.
He did not name the judge in question. The case is believed to involve Maria Chin Abdullah’s final appeal against a travel ban imposed on her.
Former chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak, Abdul Rahman SebliIn that case, one of the key points Maria challenged was the ouster clause in the Immigration Act, which bars judicial review of decisions made under the Act.
Rahman led the 4-3 majority decision that upheld the ouster clause, while Tengku Maimun led the minority decision to reject it.
According to Rahman, the pressure to change his ruling came after he circulated a draft judgment to other judges, and the “very senior” judge allegedly told him he had made the wrong decision.
Performance data
Commenting further on the allegation, Tengku Maimun instead shared performance data from the Federal Court to demonstrate that Malaysia’s judiciary functions independently and is grounded in the law.
“Over the past six years, the Federal Court has delivered judgments in 19 cases involving various constitutional law issues.
ADS“Of those 19 cases, I wrote or dissented in five.
“Based on the statistics, five out of 19 represent roughly 25 percent of dissenting opinions,” she said.
Tengku Maimun added that the figures show that judges are free to make their own decisions, and that no favouritism or pressure - internal or external - exists.
“If I had any influence over their judgments, surely I would not have dissented in five out of those 19 cases, especially those involving constitutional law,” she added.
Rahman, when approached by the media, said he was not worried about any action being taken against him for making the allegations.
“I’m not worried, I spoke the truth,” he said briefly.
When asked why he only revealed the matter now, Rahman replied that he felt it was the right time to do so.- Mkini
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