Industrial Court chairpersons should be given a permanent tenure to guarantee judicial independence, Bar Council chairperson Mah Weng Kwai said today.

Currently the human resources minister still has the power to extend or withdraw the contract of an Industrial Court chairperson depending on whether he has performed well or not.

Due to no impediment or fault of their own, the partiality or independence of existing chairpersons are called into question, just as the fairness of the awards dispersed by them, Mah said in a statement today.

Industrial Court chairpersons are only limited to two-year contracts and are not allowed to serve until age 65, a privilege only accorded to Federal Court judges.

However, Human Resources Minister Dr Fong Chan Onn was quoted in the New Straits Times today as saying that the services of three Industrial Court chairpersons whose contracts ended on March 31 would be extended by two years.

He also said that the Industrial Relations Act, which the Industrial Court falls under, would be reviewed with regard to the age limit and tenure of the chairpersons.

Equal to High Court judges

The issue of tenure arose after one of the three whose tenure has ended, Abu Bakar Abu Hashim, was quoted in another daily last week as refusing the governments offer of a three-month extension, lamenting that chairpersons are usually not given pensions and other benefits.

The Bar Council, therefore, strongly urges the government to make a decision to create a permanent post for all Industrial Court chairpersons, under which the privileges and status of chairpersons are equal to those of High Court judges.

This would necessarily involve, among others, the term of service of all chairpersons being extended to age 65, Mah said.

He added that changes to the Industrial Relations Act and the Federal Constitution to accommodate such conditions should be done quickly.

Meanwhile, Mah welcomed Fongs call to have members of the 10,000-strong Malaysian Bar and the Judicial and Legal Service to be appointed as Industrial Court chairpersons.

Fong earlier this month told the Bar Council to forward names of candidates with experience in labour laws, as potential chairpersons for the ministrys consideration.