Retired judges cannot be deprived of their right to appear as lawyers in court, and members of the judiciary “should not have a problem with this”, said the nation’s top judge.

Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria said this when commenting on reservations expressed openly about former Federal Court judge Gopal Sri Ram representing Pakatan Rakyat elected representatives in election petitions filed in Perak.

“As far as I am concerned, when they retire, they can do whatever they want as they have their freedom, and we cannot deprive them of their rights. Ex-judges are also human beings ... and we should not curtail (their rights),” he said.

“Previously, (former Lord President) Salleh Abbas appeared before us. It does not matter as the court will decide the case on merits and facts. It does not matter who appears before us. It is the same.”

Arifin was responding to questions from journalists on the sidelines of the Malaysian Legal and Corporate Conference 2013 today.

gopal sri ram frontimage Malaysiakini had reported that Sri Ram (left) will appear in court on Friday when the election petitions are scheduled to be heard.

Sepang MP Mohd Hanipa Maidin of PAS said that, of six cases filed in Perak, three will be handled by PAS lawyers while the rest have been given to other lawyers.

Bar Council chairperson Christopher Leong had reportedly suggested in The Sun that judicial procedures should be amended to prohibit retired judges from appearing as lawyers, as this could lead to an embarrassing situation.

He said retired judges should instead become consultants and advise lawyers appearing in courts.

Sri Ram, when met at the conference today, declined further comment further on the issue.

However, the former Federal Court judge has been quoted elsewhere as having said that retired judges can act as lawyers in exceptional cases.

Apart from Salleh, former Court of Appeal judge RK Nathan has also appeared in court as a lawyer.

Issue was raised during judges conference

Justice Arifin, in commenting further, said former judges may still have a passion for practising the law.

azlan “Probably their love for law is so much. They love the law and want to practise. What is wrong with that? I think this is good as they are contributing to the development of the law because of their experience and so forth.

“There is no harm. If we compare the advantages and disadvantages of it, it seems there is more advantage (for them to appear as lawyers).”

Arifin said the issue had  been raised during the judges' conference and that he had told fellow-judges that there is no reason to restrict the former judges from court appearances.

“After all, they have already retired. For me, we will decide the case on its merits,” he said.

On election petitions, Justice Arifin said 58 cases have been filed in Peninsular Malaysia, nine in Sabah and two in Sarawak.

He reiterated that the courts have assigned judges, with some to handle an average of five petitions each.

“The cases can be disposed of within six months. I do not think there will be a problem as some cases have already gone through case management,” he added.