The man whose job is to help restore public confidence in the judiciary says he needs six months to do so.
"Six months may be good enough for me to clean up the judiciary and redeem its image which was tarnished by certain quarters, said lawyer Zaid Ibrahim who is Minister in the PM's Department.
He was quoted by Bernama to have said that he would ensure that the judiciary became more transparent.
Here's the rest of the story:
"We have to take a closer look at the judiciary. This needs a thorough discussion and the judges' assistance.
"The people want to see changes in the way we appoint judges and promote them. They also want cases to be heard faster," he told a Press conference at his residence in Kota Bharu yesterday..
Expressing his view that the government had made a mistake in sacking former Lord President Tun Mohd Salleh Abbas in 1988, he said the interference had brought disrepute to the judiciary, which was hardly restored until today.
"The biggest mistake was to sack Tun Salleh Abbas and suspend several judges. But that was 20 years ago, now we open a new chapter. We appologise to those affected... We will repair the damage, change our attitude and our ways," he said.
Mohd Salleh was sacked while five Supreme Court judges were suspended during the judiciary crisis of 1988.-- BERNAMA
Indeed it was the biggest mistake. And 20 years now, it still cannot be forgotten and healed. It was too damaging.
ReplyDelete6 months from now, Zaid Ibrahim has to be clearly seen to be impartial in his works towards restoring the judiciary's independence and credibility.
Now I can't wait for the outcome of the Royal Commission on Lingam scandal. Tun M was too forgetful on that day.
Zaid, do first talk later la...don't set timeframe...there's alot of shit under the carpet, 6 months where got enough...
ReplyDeleteIt doesnt really matter if you take six months or one year. What matters is what actions will you take, Zaid, and will they be enough?
ReplyDeleteFor Tun Saleh's unjustified dismissal, you said the Governemnt should apologise. An apology is needed, but never enough to wipe away all the ills of this country. We need ACCOUNTABILITY, and we need it fast.
All the perpe-"traitors" of injustice, starting from the time of Tun Saleh's inappropriate dismissal to the relevations from the Lingam tape enquiry MUST BE brought to book. This is the only one and honorable way to bring back credibility, respect and dignity to our courts, our judicial system and our country.
The indifference we are seeing and the pervasive paralysis to take immediate and corrective actions is really disappointing and defeaning.
If Zaid Ibrahim is serious about his moral vision, we need him to start asking for accountability and penalising the guilty ones, whoever they are, whatever their positions. Then and only then can we exorcise the hantus and restore our country..
The days of just talking are over!!
The new paradigm is to listen to the people and to take actions without fear or favour!!!
Now that he's a Minister, Zaid "berkokok as any ayam jantan would..."; should be interesting to see what he can do in six months? One thing for sure, he wouldn't be singing out of tune with the master's musical notes...
ReplyDeleteAs I see it, the only way to restore back the judiciary system is to reinstake Tun Saleh Abas as Lord President, even for one day.
ReplyDeleteLet him do the rest and after that let the judiciary takes it own natural course and where after that the judiciary do not allow anymore interference from the executive, even in the appointments and promotions of judges, back to the old days, all by seniority.
I am not a lawwer, but in my opinion ,in the first place, there is no provision in the constitution for sacking LORD PRESIDEN.No doubt, there is a provision for removal of the Judges .But it should not be used to remove Lord President,as "Lord President" is itself constitute a separate entity than the judges;it is a position, the highest in the judiciary.Therefore, It must have a separate provision in the constitution if they want to remove him.But it is not the case..
Therefore it is very clear in my mind why the drafter of the constitution do not include a separate provision in the constitution for removal of LORD PRESIDENT; The reason behind must be for the sole purpose of maintaining the independence of judiciary; to have an independence judiciary system it must be away from executive power or its influence; that no body can remove the LORD PRESIDENT unless he voluntarily retired or has reached a retirement stage.
In my opinion if the above is not done there is no way to bring back the confidence on our judiciary no matter what the government do .If there is an absolute power to appoint and to sack , then whoever being appointed will be obliged to this power and there would be no independence for the guy.
The only way he can do that in six months is to restructure the Malay judiciary to better reflect the population.
ReplyDeleteAt present the Malay Judiciary bends over backwards to accomodate the whims and fancies of the Syariah Courts because they are all afraid that they would go to hell otherwise when they are dead.
We need more judges who are not afraid of fairy tales.