Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today defended the controversial appointment of new chief justice Zaki Azmi, who was sworn in to the judiciary's No 1 post this morning.

The premier gave his strong assurance to the legal fraternity that Zaki - who came under criticism for his previous links with ruling party Umno and the corporate world - as "a man who likes reforms".

21th lawasia conference 291008 abdullah badaw 03 "Zaki is a man who likes reforms and he is doing that already. He is taking various steps to ensure the judiciary functions well," Abdullah said while opening the 21 st LawAsia conference in Kuala Lumpur this evening.

About 600 guests, including legal practitioners from more than 30 countries were present at the opening ceremony of the three-day conference. Newly-minted Court of Appeal president Alauddin Mohd Sherif was also present.

New CJ's reforms proposals

According to the prime minister, Zaki has "whispered " a few immediate suggestions to him on the ways to reform the judiciary while receiving his mandate from the king at the Istana Negara today.

"(He wants) more judges, more lawyers and more courts to be set up because it helps to reduce backlogs of cases.

zaki azmi chief justice 161008 "(He then said) we need money too but he forgot that I am no longer the finance minister. I will ask my deputy Najib (Abdul Razak) to provide the money [...] so yes, you will get your money," Abdullah said to the laughter from the crowd.

Zaki, 63, was promoted to chief justice after having served 10 months as Court of Appeal president since Dec 11 last year.

He was appointed as the No 2 in the judiciary after serving just three months as a Federal Court judge.

He was the first Federal Court judge whose appointment bypassed the convention of prior service in the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

Questions have been raised by the Malaysian Bar previously over Zaki's perceived close ties with those in the establishment. The opposition parties have also objected to his appointment.

The new chief justice, who was also present at the conference's opening ceremony, declined to comment when approached by reporters seeking for his response on Abdullah's remark.

Zaki has yet to respond on the criticisms on his appointment to the judiciary top post to date.

Bar reiterates stand on ISA

Meanwhile, in her welcoming address earlier, the Malaysian Bar president Ambiga Sreenevasan reiterated the call of the legal professional body - representing some 13,000 lawyers in the country - to abolish the Internal Security Act (ISA) which allowed for detention without trial.

21th lawasia conference 291008 ambiga "We question the wisdom of continuing to have such a repressive piece of legislation on our statute books.

"One can see how far we have strayed from the original intent of the ISA that a blogger, a politician, a journalist and a civil society organiser can, independently of each other, be seen as threats to national security," she said.

"Prime Minister, while it may still be in your means to do so, and as a historic legacy to this nation that both you and I love, I ask you, on behalf of all right-thinking Malaysians and on behalf of the legal fraternity of Malaysia, to move to abolish the ISA," Ambiga said to the applause from the delegates.

Abdullah, who was seated on stage, smiled broadly when Ambiga made the call.

Responding to this in his speech, Abdullah reiterated his justification to have the ISA.

"As the ex-home minister, I am fully aware of the law (and) why we must have the law. It's not easy to execute the law. Without fear or favour, I have discharged my responsibility but it's tough," he said.

He added that at times, the rights of others were infringed when people exercised their freedom.

"If their freedom threatened others, some kind of law have to be enforced," he said, in obvious reference to justify why the ISA should stay.

Giving Zaki a chance

Abdullah also said as a Muslim, he was answerable to God to be fair to all irrespective of their religions.

Met later, Ambiga said she took the prime minister's response as a "definate no" to her call to abolish the ISA but vowed to keep up the campaign to repeal the tough security law.

zaki azmi chief justice installation event 291008 01 On Zaki's appointment, she said although questions have been raised in the past, the Malaysian Bar would want to give the new chief justice a chance.

"Now, we have to give him a chance and see how things work out. I would say let's give him a chance and let's move on from this point onwards," she told journalists.