Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has appointed former attorney-general Idrus Harun and three others as members of the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC).

In a media statement this morning, the JAC secretariat office announced the appointment of Idrus (above) as well as retired federal court judge Zainun Ali, former Sarawak attorney-general Talaat Mahmood Abdul Rashid, and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) legal adviser Hartini Saripan.

The secretariat said the appointment per Section 5(1)(f) of the JAC Act 2009 is for two years taking effect on Nov 1 until Oct 31, 2026.

The secretariat added that the appointments were done following the end of the appointment of former JAC members on Sept 3.

These former JAC members were Md Raus Sharif, Suriyadi Halim Omar, Abdul Razak Tready, and Professor Shamrahayu Ab Aziz.

The secretariat also expressed its appreciation and thanks for the service contributed by the former members.

On Nov 11, Free Malaysia Today quoted a source saying that apart from Idrus, Zainun, Talat Mahmood and Hartini were selected to sit on the commission.

“Their appointments will see the JAC resuming its monthly meetings next month.

“The committee has been unable to perform its functions since September because of a lack of quorum,” the source reportedly said.

JAC’s task

The JAC is tasked with selecting suitable candidates to sit as judges in the superior courts - the Federal Court, the Court of Appeal and the High Courts.

Before their appointment, JAC only had four out of nine of its positions filled since September consisting of chairperson Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, Court of Appeal president Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, and Chief Justice of Sabah and Sarawak Abdul Rahman Sebli and senior Federal Court judge Nallini Pathmanathan.

The situation put the commission in limbo as Sections 13(4) and (5) of the JAC Act 2009 state that the quorum for a meeting is seven including the chairperson, but in the event of the disqualification of members, the quorum shall be reduced to a minimum of five.

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