'The royal commission's powers are derived from the Commission of Inquiry Act 1950. It is not an inferior tribunal that is amenable to judicial review.’
Court: Lingam-gate findings can be challenged
Gerard Samuel Vijayan: Is the Court of Appeal now saying that the High Court has supervisory jurisdiction over a royal commission of inquiry (RCI)? The RCI's powers are derived from a specific Act of Parliament - the Commission of Inquiry Act 1950. It is not an inferior tribunal or administrative body that is amenable to judicial review.
The RCI reports directly to the king. It merely makes recommendations and findings based on its terms of reference and after considering the evidence. The government then decides on whether to give effect to the recommendations and findings of the RCI. These recommendations and findings are not binding on the government and they do not have the force of law. They are subject to implementation or enforcement by the government.
Therefore, the recommendations and findings of the RCI, being non-binding in nature and not enforceable in law, cannot be termed as a decision that affects the rights of aggrieved or interested parties.
Pure: I have totally lost confidence in the Malaysian judicial system - if you want to be biased, at least don't make it look so ugly, especially in an infamous case like this.
How can the findings of a royal commission of inquiry be appealed when you have the attorney-general to decide on further action? What kind of rules do we practice and what are the actual messages that we are sending to the world?
Do we want to shoo away what’s left of the dwindling number of foreign investors who may still have some interest in us?
Christine Yong: I believe this is a strategy to buy time. All of a sudden, there will be some fresh evidence that "it sounds like me, looks like me, seems to be me but it is actually not me".
Ruben: Well VK Lingam, you can do all you want to clear your name in front of a puppet court that you yourself allegedly manipulated to your advantage, like paying the travel expenses of a former chief justice and writing the judgment for a judge.
So what will clearing your name matter? In the eyes of the rakyat, your name is permanently smeared and will always remain that way. Your win will just be a hollow victory. At least your former boss, Vincent Tan, has a some dignity left in not appealing.
Kenzo: Lingam knows many judges well and has been shown to have great influence over them. I suppose people may be looking at the appellate court judges who gave this ruling as possibly being some of the judges Lingam has influence over as well.
Perhaps Lingam made recommendations to a previous chief justice for these judges to be promoted, but that was in another telephone call, one not recorded by Loh Gwo Burne. Who knows?
Md Imraz Muhd Ikhbal: What was once the epitome of justice in the country has now been reduced to a predictable charade. Such is the workings of a system of governance in any land consumed by corruption.
Maitreya: The fact that even as I type this, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, Eusoff Chin, VK Lingam, Vincent Tan, Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim, Abdul Gani Patail, Musa Hassan, et alia, are still at large instead of behind bars where they belong, reveals that Malaysia is being destroyed by a gang of crooks.
Because of Mahathir, individuals trying to do their job - be they opposition politicians and public figures like Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng, Karpal Singh, Salleh Abas, Shafee Yahaya, Anwar Ibrahim, social activists like Irene Fernandez and Raja Petra Kamarudin - have been systematically persecuted and made to appear like lawbreakers to clueless law enforcers.
Those who continue to sing the praises of the Dark Lord must have lizard stuff for brains.
Henry Lau: This will probably gone down as the saddest day in our history and the consciousness of our people. "Looks like me, sounds like me but it is not me" has been endorsed as a valid point of contention in the Malaysian court. So don't count on CCTV to prove a point.
Ong Guan Sin: May Lingam prevail, seriously, so that the rakyat doesn't have such a hard time to determine the state of our judiciary today. We all should welcome people like Lingam for he helps to bring out the absence of the sincerity and leadership in this BN government.
Thank you, Lingam. May you live long ‘enough’ to help us bury BN.
LI Ting Rui: In this case, with a video showing the act , it can still be challenged. If a royal commission can be challenged, then what is the point of setting up a royal commission of inquiry?
This is a very strange phenomenon in Malaysia. Are these politicians immune to the curse of minority Malaysians because of the majority who voted them in power? The majority Malaysians have to wake up.
Jimmy Ng: Due to a grossly incompetent (deliberately perhaps?) prosecuting team, more often than not these days, numerous cases of corruption involving high-profile figures (eg, Kasitah Gaddam, Eric Chia, Ramli Yusoff, etc) collapse due the failure of the prosecuting team and are thrown out by the court due to the lack of a prima facie case.
In the future, please publish the names of these public prosecutors and their assistants or deputies so that we, the rakyat, can know exactly who these shameless persons are. I wonder how their KPIs are like? Do they have any to begin with? How then is their performance appraised annually?
P Dev Anand Pillai: If Lingam has a right to be heard and a right to challenge the video recording evidence that was so clear, then why isn't the same right given to Anwar to challenge what the prosecution has cooked up? Anwar is not even given a right to peek into the medical reports of the doctors. So it is blatant that the judiciary is beyond redemption.
God bless the dissenting judge, he is the only brave one left. Only a complete change in the federal administration will bring about a revamp and fresh start for the judiciary. Until then, being a judge is now not a very proud achievement. That’s the reason why, when they are amongst the commoners, they prefer to go unnoticed. They just hope and pray that no one sees them and calls out aloud, "Hello, Yang Arif".
So it is all left to the young folks of this beloved country of ours - the choice is in your hands.
Challenge to royal panel findings 'unprecedented'
Lim Chong Leong: Sorry Karpal Singh, but you don't have that one phone call to the chief justice and prime minister. So what you say as a senior and learned lawyer - though the people of Malaysia are listening - is of no use to the Court of Appeals or the Federal Court.
Soapbox: What are the lawyers doing about this charade? All they did was march to Putrajaya in 2007 and got their former Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan a datukship, which incidently silenced her. The trouble is, they get paid whether they win or lose a case. So to them, scoundrels like Lingam only helps them up their fees when fighting him. The losers are always the litigants.
Ferdtan: The Bar Council is as quiet as a mouse, like a toothless pussycat. Lawyers, get back your voice and pride - do what your noble profession expects of you. The government don’t even bother to consult with the Bar Council when they pass new laws; a big slap in your face.
Put the right people in your Bar Council. Get Edmund Bon, the committed human rights activist, to be the president - then you can slowly and surely get your dignity back!
Tan Teng Wah: Gone are the days when a royal commissions of inquiry, once set up, were given their due respect and the recommendations taken seriously. These three persons had committed the gravest crime in the Malaysian legal history and they do not feel a bit of a shame.
It is an unthinkable effrontery for them to appeal just because no action was taken against them. Any three-year old would be able to foretell the outcome given the judiciary’s deplorable state.
KJ John: What then is royal about the commission? Why not call it the royal omission? Is the Agong and his appointment of the commission and its findings being questioned by the appellate court? How can they when the cartoon figures have not even been charged?
Lover Boy: Karpal, if VK Lingam goes into the slammer, he is going to sing more than “correct, correct, correct”.
Many who used him will go down with him, not only the two previous chief justices but many other big fishes and current serving judges in the Federal Court. The final outcome is predictable - the royal commission finding is tainted by bias, breach of rules of natural justice.
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