YOURSAY | ‘Raus let slip that he accepted the extension because 'the government needed him'.’

Bar stands its ground after CJ's defence of extension

Headhunter: From their shenanigans and determination to hang on to their positions, there must be more to it than meets the eyes. There usually is, under such suspicious circumstances.

This would be similar to the appointment of the attorney-general (AG); probably to save the neck of one man. And for that, they are willing to go the extra mile even when their own reputation and that of the judiciary is at stake.

Surely, it can't be the salaries they are after. If later their appointments were declared unconstitutional, does it mean that any cases before them in the future can be declared null and void?

By the fact that their appointments are putting the judiciary into a crisis, they should have declined the appointment like real gentlemen would.

JesuisAnwar: Chief justice (CJ) Md Raus Sharif let slip that he decided to accept the three-year term extension because "the government needed him".

So, this "learned" judge apparently believes he is serving BN (the government), and not justice.

Anonymous_4020: Why does the PM so eagerly want to extend the CJ, who in return can’t wait to accept the appointment? Is there no other qualified judge in the whole of Malaysia who can take over the CJ’s post?

As a matter of integrity, the CJ must gracefully decline the appointment from the PM to avoid public perception that "ada udang di sebalik batu” or “you scratch my back and I scratch your back".

Change is in the Air: The Malaysian Bar and its thousands of members through the decades have been giving 'lip services' to the numerous complaints about wrongs this government did.

It is simply pathetic and abhorrent that they will not take these issues to court… they prefer to highlight them.

Anonymous_1371477558: Is there a court that can decide if this appointment is constitutional?

HaveAGreatDay: Thank you, Bar Council, for calling that man's bluff!

Semua Boleh - Bodoh pun Boleh: If the two (additional judges) say their appointments are constitutional and when it's not, then our “court of justice” has been breached by PM Najib Abdul Razak.

Hang Babeuf: An elementary point. (Former CJ) Tun Zaki Azmi defends the two appointments. How odd it is, he opines, that someone has to retire at age 66 from the judiciary. Not like that in the business world! Well, perhaps so.

But anyone with a bare modicum of respect for and understanding of the law - when faced with this impending situation and if they really thought that some change was necessary - would have moved first, and explicitly, and in a timely manner to change the law.

Having done so, they might then have extended the terms of the chief justice and the Court of Appeal president.

But anyone who opts to proceed the other way round, or defends the proceeding in that reverse manner, and thinks that it is okay to do so, may be learned and practised and experienced in legal affairs, but they are still no better in understanding than legal vulgarians.

One expects more, and is entitled to expect more, from those who proceed in this way, who now defend this procedure, and who are happy to benefit from this inversion of proper process. The Bar is right.

Interested bystander: Everyone knows this was done so the CJ would not be a non-Muslim.

'CJ's extension turns murkier with omission of JAC'

Justice: The constitutional provisions providing for the power to appoint additional Federal Court judges ought to be applied when there is a shortage of judges to hear cases in the country’s highest court.

The judiciary is not facing that shortage. Further, the power to appoint "additional Federal Court judges" in the provisions does not extend to "extending" the service of a serving CJ or the president of the Court of Appeal (COA).

If the Federal Court faces a shortage of judges and therefore requires the appointment of "additional Federal Court judges", Raus and Court of Appeal president Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin could only be appointed as an "additional" - and that is also only as "ordinary" - Federal Court judges, not as "CJ" or "president" of the COA.

For the posts of CJ and president of the COA, we already have several senior, competent and qualified judges ready to be promoted to assume these posts.

Extending Raus as CJ and Zulkifli as president of the COA is unfair discrimination or punishment of these judges.

Rick Teo: This will be a dark chapter in the history of the judiciary. All cases heard before the CJ will in the future be the subject of dispute and most probably declared as null and void.

That will be the consequence of an appointment of a CJ that is against the Constitution.

Bar to challenge CJ's extension, wants retired judges to preside case

6th Generation Immigrant: The little pieces of jigsaws are slowly falling into place, the advent of a "democratic civil unrest" is surely in the cards when more pieces of jigsaws are coming into play and are connected.

One such jigsaw is Selangor MB Azmin Ali suing the inspector-general of police (IGP), while the other is Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli collecting RM1.5 million when he only appealed for RM300,000.

Taking the Parliament speaker to court is also contributing towards an eventual concerted move. G25 should take the banning of their book to court as well. The more the merrier - mismanagement of the country by the incumbents are getting very obvious.

Cogito Ergo Sum: We seem to be messed up in almost every institution of governance. Parliament led by an ignoramus speaker, the country’s finances in shambles, judiciary's independence at stake, political parties bent on confusion rather than fusion, and newspapers and TV stations purveying lies.

Every facet of Malaysian life has collapsed or is collapsing. What a future we bequeath our children.

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