When Lawyers Marched Revisiting Past Rallies For Democracy Justice

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The Malaysian Bar has decided to stage another public march on July 14 to demand judicial independence.
This follows former chief justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat’s retirement on July 1, with no successor yet appointed. Currently, Chief Judge of Malaya Hasnah Hashim has been appointed as the acting chief justice.
In addition, Court of Appeal president Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim also retired on July 3, with no replacement named. Federal Court judge Zabariah Yusof has temporarily assumed the role.
Malaysian Bar president Ezri Abdul Wahab said the planned “Walk to Safeguard Judicial Independence” event is to voice grave concerns on the state of the judiciary, and not for any judge in particular.
Malaysian Bar president Ezri Abdul WahabThe Malaysian Bar has a long history of marches dating back to 1947, notably its April 7, 1981, walk from the Royal Lake Club to Parliament, protesting the government’s amendments to the Societies Act and Federal Constitution.
In December 2005 and 2006, peaceful marches took place from Dataran Merdeka to the Lake Gardens to mark International Human Rights Day on Dec 10.
Malaysiakini now revisits some of the Malaysian Bar’s recent protests over the years and what prompted them.
2007: VK Lingam tapes
On Sept 26, 2007, around two thousand lawyers staged a protest demanding a probe into allegations that brokering of judges was occurring within the judiciary.
This was after then-opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim released a video clip, captured in 2002, purportedly showing senior lawyer VK Lingam revealing his role in getting Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim elevated as Chief Judge of Malaya, the third most senior position in the judiciary.
It was during this walk that then-Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan famously said: “Lawyers don’t walk every day. When lawyers walk, something is wrong.”
READ MORE: Revisiting the VK Lingam tape
The rally began from the Palace of Justice to Seri Perdana, and was also joined by DAP and PKR members.
The late Abdullah Ahmad Badawi served as prime minister then. The group later handed a memorandum demanding that a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) be established to investigate the matter.
Former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad BadawiUnder pressure, Abdullah formed the RCI, with the investigations concluding that Lingam and several others had seriously undermined the judiciary.
After losing BN’s long-held two-thirds majority following the 2008 general election, Abdullah embarked on several reforms, including forming the Judicial Appointments Committee (JAC) in February 2009.
2011: Walk for Freedom
In 2011, the Bar Council staged a rally in Kuala Lumpur to protest against the tabling of the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) during Najib Abdul Razak’s premiership.
Led by then-Bar Council president Lim Chee Wee, the rally saw hundreds marching from the Royal Lake Club to the Parliament building.
Former Bar Council president Lim Chee WeeThey deemed the law to be against freedom of expression and imposed tough penalties against rally organisers. The lawyers then submitted a memorandum to then-deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Liew Vui Keong.
The PAA eventually became law in April 2012, requiring rally organisers to submit a notice at a minimum of 10 days in advance to the police before organising a protest. This was later reduced to five days.
On July 1 this year, the Federal Court ruled Clause 9(5) of the PAA unconstitutional.
The clause stipulates that an organiser can be slapped with a fine of not more than RM10,000 for failure to provide a notice to the police, five days before a planned gathering.
2014: March for Freedom
On Oct 16, 2014, around 1,000 protesters, mostly lawyers, marched from Padang Merbok to the Parliament to voice their protest against the Sedition Act 1948.
Among those who participated were then-Malaysian Bar president Christopher Leong, his predecessor Ambiga, and then-PSM secretary-general S Arutchelvan.
Several prominent DAP leaders, including Gobind Singh Deo and Nga Kor Ming, who are now part of Anwar’s cabinet, were also present.
After the march, then-minister in Prime Minister’s Department Mah Siew Keong received a memorandum from the group on Najib’s behalf.
While the former Pakatan Harapan coalition promised to repeal the Sedition Act when it was still in the opposition, it has emerged that the coalition government is now only considering amending the law.
According to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said, the decision was made after she submitted findings from a dialogue session on legal approaches to handle the current issue of religion, race, and royalty (3R).
2022: Walk for Justice
On June 17, 2022, the Malaysian Bar held the “Walk for Justice” event in response to the MACC launching an investigation against then-High Court judge Nazlan Ghazali, after a politically linked blog claimed he had unexplained wealth.
Nazlan, who had presided over Najib’s trial and convicted him in the RM42 million SRC International corruption case, denied the allegation and lodged a police report on the matter.
The rally did not proceed smoothly as participants were blocked by police while gathering at Padang Merbok, preventing them from walking to Parliament despite the group having sent the required notice under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.
Then-deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, who was initially expected to receive the memorandum from the Bar Council at Parliament, later walked to the lawyers to receive it.
Unimpressed with the situation, then-Bar Council president Karen Cheah and several others filed a suit against the police. The police, however, claimed that the procession was disallowed due to objections from nearby premises.
On March 20 this year, the High Court ruled that the police had acted ultra vires (beyond powers) to impose a condition that prohibited the rally in 2022. - Mkini

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