The Yang di-Pertuan Agong today appointed justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim as the new chief justice, replacing justice Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah who retires o­n Saturday.

According to a national news agency Bernama report, the king, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra, today had consented to the appointment o­n the advice of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad after conferring with the Conference of Rulers.

The appointment was discussed at the meeting of the Council of Rulers which ended today.

Ahmad Fairuz, 62, will take over at the helm of the judiciary after receiving his letter of appointment o­n Monday.

Ahmad Fairuz's appointment is not surprising as he was the most likely candidate to replace Dzaiddin, largely due to his position as the second man in command of the judiciary - he is currently the Court of Appeal president.

Dzaiddin is seen by many as being pivotal in increasing the public perception of the judiciary, which had taken a beating under the leadership of Eusoff Chin and Hamid Omar.

Ahmad Fairuz's close association with Dzaiddin is seen as a vital factor in continuing judicial reforms.

Ahmad Fairuz started as a magistrate in Penang in 1967. He was appointed judicial commissioner in 1988 and two years later as High Court judge. He was elevated to the Court of Appeal in 1995 and in 2000, to the Federal Court.

Rapid rise

His rise in the judiciary ranks has been rapid. He was appointed as the chief judge of High Court in October 2001, and in last December he was again promoted to the post of the Court of Appeal president.

However despite his fast rise and close ties with Dzaiddin, many in the legal field are not confident if Ahmad Fairuz can continue the changes implemented by Dzaiddin to repair the tarnished image of the judiciary.

Ahmad Fairuz is not seen by many as a 'reformist' and 'progressive' judge.

His judgments are usually labeled as 'safe judgments', which include the controversial sacking of opposition party DAP's candidate for the Bukit Bintang parliamentary seat in the 1995 general elections, and giving the seat to the Barisan Nasional candidate without calling a by-election.

Ahmad Fairuz was also a panel member in the Court of Appeal that dismissed lawyer Zainur Zakaria's appeal against his 1998 contempt of court conviction.

Zainur was cited for contempt for applying o­n behalf of Anwar Ibrahim to disqualify two senior prosecutors from prosecuting the former deputy prime minister's corruption trial.

Ahmad Fairuz was born o­n Nov 1, 1941 in Alor Star, Kedah and holds a LL B (Hons) degree from University of Singapore and LL.M from University of Brussels, Belgium.