Social movement Aliran today lambasted retired Appeal Court judge Lamin Yunus for accusing a lawyer of criticising the King's choice of judges, calling it "absurd and ridiculous".
"Aliran is shocked at the absurdity of Lamin's reasoning in responding to Raja Aziz Addruse's remark regarding the appointment Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim as the new Chief Judge of Malaya," said Aliran president P Ramakrishnan in statement.
Lamin said in a Star report today that Raja Aziz's criticisms questioned the integrity of the King, who is responsible for electing the Chief Justice of Malaysia, the Appeal Court president, the chief judges of Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak, Federal Court judges, Appeal Court judges and High Court judges.
However, the King is expected to make those choices under the advice of the Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and after consulting the Conference of Rulers.
"In my humble view, this is not merely a question of free speech or expression in a democratic country. This view is tantamount to criticising the ability or inability of the King to appoint a suitable person," Lamin said.
Raja Aziz, a constitutional lawyer, criticised the appointment of Ahmad Fairuz in the Bar's publication Insaf , saying that his appointment caused apprehension among members of the Malaysian Bar as many of his judgments were deemed 'unpopular'.
These included deciding against the contempt appeals of Far Eastern Economic Review journalist Murray Hiebert and lawyer Zainur Zakaria, and the dismissal of the Bar Council's appeal to have an extraordinary general meeting on the ground that the Federal Constitution prohibited discussion of a judge's conduct outside of Parliament.
Raja Aziz also said Justice Malik Ahmad should have been given the promotion given the fact that Malik was more senior, and had praised Chief Justice Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah for paving the road to judicial recovery.
Ahmad Fairuz, who was elected as the new Chief Justice of Malaya last month, is also a Federal Court judge.
Criticism directed at Mahathir
Countering Lamin's argument, Ramakrishnan stated that Raja Aziz's criticism was directed at Mahathir and not the King.
"Lamin himself had stated on March 2, 2000 that 'the intention of the Constitution is clear i.e. the King must act on the advice of the prime minister'.
"In other words the King does not choose the candidate or decide on the suitability of the candidate. It is the prerogative of the prime minister, the King merely fulfills a constitutional requirement and discharges a constitutional duty that is required of him,' Ramakrishnan said.
He also added that positions of public office must also be open and transparent and this does not exclude judges.
"Anyone assuming public office should also expect his or her own appointment to come under intense public scrutiny and judges should not be exempted from this process," Ramakrishnan said.
DAP national chairperson Lim Kit Siang also called on the Bar, the legal community and civil society to speak out against the Lamin 'principle'.
"They should speak out loud and clear to repudiate the Lamin doctrine, as the last thing that Malaysia should do is to lapse to the past of a governance, whether administrative or judicial, which is divorced from democracy, accountability and transparency," Lim said.
