The Attorney-General (AG) should not have confined his investigations into the alleged misconduct of Chief Justice Eusoff Chin only based on photographs taken with a lawyer in New Zealand, United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur Param Cumaraswamy said today.

In a [#1]media statement[/#], Param said Mohtar Abdullah's statement last Friday that there was no case against Eusoff over his alleged misconduct was "baffling" (No case against CJ in 'controversial' NZ holiday, Nov 17).

"The mere fact of being seen in the photographs while on holiday with their respective families may not be misconduct on the part of Eusoff," said Param who is the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers.

He said that what could amount to misconduct was the fact that Eusoff sat and adjudicated in some of the appeals and applications in which the particular lawyer appeared in since the holiday.

Bowman report not denied

Last Friday, Mohtar said the investigations regarding Eusoff had been "closed for the time being" as no evidence had been found to indicate any wrongdoing by the Chief Justice, who is due to retire next month.

Param claimed that only after the photographs had appeared in the Internet in 1998 had Eusoff disqualified himself from hearing matters in which the lawyer appeared.

"Even then, he did so only when requested by the Bar Council," said Param, who is a former Bar Council chairman.

Eusoff should have disqualified himself on his own volition from hearing applications and appeals involving the lawyer from 1995 to 1998 to preserve the impartiality of the court, said Param.

Param said in his statement the Chief Justice had possibly acted in a manner likely to cause a reasonable suspicion in that "he had allowed his private interests to come into conflict with his judicial duties".

H e also said that while Eusoff had said that he had "bumped into" the lawyer in New Zealand, the Bowman papers compiled by a private investigation agency in the United Kingdom revealed something different (Eusoff, Lingam face new allegations, June 14).

"It showed that both families travelled together from Singapore to Auckland and thereafter to Christchurch and returned together to Kuala Lumpur via Singapore," said Param.

He added the Chief Justice to date has neither admitted nor denied the facts revealed in the Bowman report which, Param alleged, seriously questioned his credibility.

He said various types of misconduct were expressed in the Judges' Code of Ethics under the Constitution and asked if Mohtar had investigated these aspects when looking into the allegations against Eusoff.

'AG not impartial'

Param also claimed that even Mohtar was not an impartial party to conduct the investigations as he himself had allegedly been seen in a holiday photograph with the same lawyer and the lawyer's client. The photo was supposedly taken in Spain.

When questioned by the media, Param recalled, Mohtar was reported to have said that he was "entitled to a private life, including going overseas on holidays with friends". ( New Sunday Times , Aug 23, 1998)

"Nobody will dispute that he is entitled to all that.

"But surely he should have, as a public prosecutor, kept out of investigations when he knows or ought to know that he cannot be impartial or be perceived to be so. Conflict of interest is apparent," he said.

Param said there should be an independent, impartial and credible investigation into these allegations, adding that there appeared to be sufficient evidence to warrant a representation to the Yang diPertuan Agong to appoint a tribunal.

Param also called on Eusoff, in the interest of justice, not to sit on any appeals or be involved in the empanelling of any sitting of the Federal Court until he retires on December 19.

Call to make report public

Meanwhile, DAP vice chairman Tan Seng Giaw, in a media statement, called on Mohtar to make public his probe on the investigations involving the Chief Justice.

"The people are still wondering what actually happened. I hope the AG will reconsider his decision against making the probe public.

] "It may be complicated legally. But it does not stop the AG being accountable to the public," said Tan, also MP for Kepong.

Full statement by Param CumaraswamyM