With a number of high profile election petitions due to be heard in court soon, Suhakam chairperson Abu Talib Othman said it is necessary that judicial functions be exercised in a transparent and impartial manner, uninfluenced by third parties.

As the courts will have the final say on the disputed seats, he said judges must not only be transparent in determining the cases, but also ensure that a quick decision is arrived at in the interests of the public.

"In determining the election petitions, the election judge must not delay their decisions, act transparently, and hopefully be uninfluenced by any party, either directly or indirectly," the newly re-appointed Suhakam chief told malaysiakini.

"I'm not claiming that the present judiciary is not independent, but in any democratic country, an independent judiciary is very important," added Abu Talib, who had served in the government as attorney-general.

Following the announcement of the 11th general election results in March, opposition parties PAS and Keadilan have filed complaints with Suhakam, alleging irregularities by the Election Commission, ranging from the use of different sets of electoral roll to the removal of eligible voters from the roll.

However, under the 1999 Human Rights Commission Act, Suhakam cannot investigate any matter that has been brought before the courts.

Judicial appointments

To date, PAS has filed seven election petitions while Umno had filed five, with the other political parties have until tomorrow to decide whether to seek legal redress on the polls results.

While election petitions have been filed in the past (23 cases in 1999), the Election Court's decisions this time around will have strong implications for the country.

For one, the results of the parliamentary seat where Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi stood is being challenged by PAS on grounds that Abdullah failed to submit a declaration of his 1999 general election expenses as required under election regulations.

In Kelantan, where opposition PAS is holding on with only a two-seat majority, any court decision not in their favour could see Umno taking over the state government.

Touching on judicial independence, Abu Talib revealed that Suhakam had in the past been approached to play a role in improving the mechanism of judicial appointments, an area which he said the body could come into consultation with other parties.

"We can play a role in examining the appointment mechanism, and give our input on how we can help improve it, if it is found that the system is defective," he said.

"On the other hand, no one has said the system is defective. Just because one or two judges, perhaps, do not meet up to expectations, is the system bad? Not necessarily so. We will have to sit down and look at all these things."

In his two years as Suhakam chairperson, Abu Talib said the commission has not received any formal complaints of judicial misconduct. And without a report, he said Suhakam would be hard-pressed to lodge an inquiry or investigation of its own.

'Very unfortunate'

Suhakam, however, had in the past seen the need to comment on an issue related to the courts and it did, he said, adding the commission's experience in handling complaints into police behaviour would often lead to it to scrutinise the legal process.

And in assessing the complaints, Suhakam commissioners more often than not end up questioning whether certain court decisions were properly made.

"It (police practices) appears that of late, it is to detain first, investigate later. We have pressed our views about police applying to the courts to remand people before they conduct any investigations ... but it is very unfortunate that the courts seem it proper to grant orders for such requests," he said.

Suhakam, he said, had in its reports stressed the need for the courts to scrutinise each remand order made by the police under Section 117, which allows the latter to hold suspects for up to 14 days.

Beyond this, said Abu Talib, Suhakam's hands were tied.

"We have made our remarks ... it is up to them. But whatever the case, we Suhakam commissioners feel very strongly that we should have independent and impartial judiciary.

"We can only stress its importance for any democratic country."