Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang said today that Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim had misled Parliament in his denial that he had advocated the abolition of the common law system through
 
 de facto
 
 law minister Nazri Abdul Aziz.


 In a statement today, Lim said Ahmad Fairuz had lied when he denied that he had advocated the abolition of the common law at a seminar on the thoughts and academic works of the late Ahmad Ibrahim on August 21.


 <img align="right" height="166" hspace="5" src="http://corp.malaysiakini.com/cms/ib/data/4/93/23318.jpg" width="160"/>
 "I have here a tape recording of Ahmad Fairuz media interview (and what he said) made the frontpage headline 'Abolish the common law - CJ wants old English law replaced' in
 
 Utusan Malaysia
 
 the next day," he asserted.


 Lim said Nazri's involvement began when he denied that Ahmad Fairuz had ever made such a call for the abolition of the common law system in the minister's reply to Lim's speech in Parliament on Sept 5.


 "Nazri blamed reporters and their poor quality reporting for the mistake and argued that Parliament was the best forum for Ahmad Fairuz's explanation.


 "The CJ should know that his call had set off a public controversy in legal circles and the public domain which is still raging on (but he has) refuted nor confirmed Nazri's denial on his behalf," he said.


 Lim then referred to an audio recording of the media interview with Ahmad Fairuz after his opening speech where he was heard saying, "I think there is no need for us to go to the common law of England now.


 "We have a lot of our legal experts now who can give their own views about the law and how to solve it. Why should we go to common law?" the voice said.


 Lim drew parallels that if the CJ can use Nazri to mislead Parliament, the same could have been done when he denied that he was the other party in the scandalous VK Lingam tape.


 The infamous eight-minute video clip showed senior lawyer Lingam allegedly fixing judgments and appointments with Ahmad Fairuz in 2002.


 The Ipoh Timur MP also questioned the developments of the scandal where Federal Court judge Hashim Yusoff, who had accumulated 35 unwritten judgments when he was sitting in the High Court.


 
 
 Violated doctrine
 
 


 Ahmad Fairuz at first denied there was such a judge. He was reported as saying, "It is very dangerous when we said something which is not the truth. In Islam, it's called
 
 fitnah
 
 (slander). It is very bad. You don't say anything which is not the truth. You check first then you say it."


 However, on Sept 5 Ahmad Fairuz announced that he had written to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi about the particular judge but declined to disclose the contents of the letter.


 <img align="left" height="146" hspace="5" src="http://corp.malaysiakini.com/cms/ib/data/1/97/24409.gif" width="219"/>
 "Ahmad Fairuz has violated the doctrine of the separation of powers in only accounting directly and personally to the prime minister when he owes to the entire Malaysian public the responsibility of judicial accountability.


 "Up to now, Malaysians have been denied information about the scandal of the Federal Court judge which is also a most adverse reflection of Ahmad Fairuz' judicial leadership," Lim said.


 He then opined that with the production of proof that Ahmad Fairuz had lied about his comment on abolishing the common law using Nazri as his tool, he is not fit to continue as the highest judicial officer of the land.


 "He should tender his resignation forthwith, without exposing the judiciary to further crisis of confidence.


 "Under the circumstances, any notion of an extension for Ahmad Fairuz's tenure as CJ from Nov 1 for whatever period would be completely unthinkable," he added.

<img align="left" height="64" hspace="5" src="http://corp.malaysiakini.com/cms/ib/data/11/23/5885.jpg" width="75"/>

 
 The Lingam tape
 

If Nazri Abdul Aziz can help the chief justice to mislead Parliament about the abolition of common law, he may do the same with the VK Lingam tape, says a worried Kit Siang.

Lim: CJ using Nazri as tool to mislead Parliament

~RM12

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