More Judicial Crises In Future If Govt Fails To Act Now Latheefa

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The Madani government is leaving room for future judicial crises if it fails to strip the prime minister of the power to appoint judges, warned lawyer Latheefa Koya.
While the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is the one to appoint judges, the prime minister’s advice still binds the monarch, the Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) co-founder said.
This came after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim tried to pass the buck to the Malay rulers to make decisions on an ongoing judicial crisis, in which Putrajaya is accused of alleged interference in top judicial appointments.
“The prime minister still gets to decide which judges to appoint. Therefore, irrespective of any decision by the rulers in the coming days, it does not answer the burning issues that led to the judicial crisis or resolve them.
ADS“In short, the prime minister has deliberately sidestepped the key issue, which is the prime minister’s power to appoint judges without accountability.
“As long as the prime minister holds this dangerous power, the integrity and the independence of the judiciary cannot be guaranteed and will be compromised,” Latheefa said in a statement.
Latheefa was referring to Article 122B of the Federal Constitution, which states that judges are appointed by the king upon the advice of the prime minister.
Last Saturday, a leak of purported minutes of a Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) meeting in May appeared to lend credence to allegations of judicial interference against a senior judge.
There are also concerns that the government is sidelining recommendations from the JAC, made when Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat was chief justice, to fill key judicial positions.
The crisis had led to the Malaysian Bar protesting in Putrajaya on Monday, where they submitted a memorandum with four demands - filling top judicial vacancies, releasing the minutes of the JAC meeting, forming a royal commission of inquiry to probe judicial interference, and addressing overall judicial vacancies. - Mkini

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