When Zaid Ibrahim was appointed as minister in charge for judiciary reform, the Bar Council sighed in relief and was glad that - at last - there is some light at the end of the tunnel for our judiciary system. Well, that’s good news to Bar Council members, judges and the people but not so good news for Zaid Ibrahim.

As an introductory note from him, Zaid had suggested the BN government issue a public apology to Salleh Abbas and the other judges whose contracts were terminated not such a long time ago. Or to be exact, when Umno was in turmoil 20 years ago.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad quickly replied with a very strong statement (somewhat expected of him) saying that what he did was according to the constitution and was legal. And Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said there’s nothing to be apologised for by the government.

From a person who hasn’t read law, neither political science, it is a bit hard to comprehend, therefore some might say don’t talk about these things. Some may not see this but the public is actually more powerful than the Chief Judge of Malaya.

Well, quoting the so-called PM-in-waiting, he said in one of his many speeches that everybody knows what Najib has done, what Abdullah and his dynasty have pocketed and in fact everything regarding the accusations of corruption involving power and money.

And the crowd will go berserk in agreement, shouting this and that as if Justice itself has spoken and Najib, Abdullah and some other enemies of the PM-in-waiting all have been found guilty. Of course, why not? The trial after all was done outside the compound of the courtroom, in a political ceramah .

This practice of trial by ‘ mahkamah rakyat ’ (court of public opinion) must not be embedded in Malaysians’ mind. We should not allow any politician from either the government or the opposition to play the role of the Attorney-General, and influence the people in a way that favours his/herself in a way that public opinion can be deemed higher than the real courts of the nation.

In order to let the judiciary reform process run smoothly, let us not let this ‘court of public opinion’ interfere. Above all, justice is not done outside the court room. If justice is in the hands of the people, we are no different than having mob rule.

The practice of believing in the verdict of the court of public opinion must be stopped. Let the authorised arm of our country deal with it. No one is guilty until he or she is proven guilty beyond all reasonable doubt and this must apply to all citizens.

I just think that this concept of ‘mahkamah rakyat’ may not help the country in long term. Go for proper judiciary reform.