PKR 9 outline five-point agenda for new CJ

Summary 

• Nine PKR MPs, including Rafizi Ramli, urge new Chief Justice Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh to strengthen judicial independence by addressing five key issues, including filling 31 judicial vacancies and ensuring appointments are based on merit and seniority.

• They press for reforms to limit the prime minister’s power to reject Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) nominees, propose automatic Bar representation in the JAC, and suggest parliamentary involvement in confirming judicial appointments.

• The MPs remind Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim that concerns over judicial independence remain unresolved despite Wan Ahmad Farid’s appointment, stressing that reforms must be presented to the public and implemented.

Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli and eight other PKR lawmakers have raised a laundry list of outstanding issues for the consideration of newly appointed Chief Justice Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh.

In a joint statement today, the parliamentarians expressed hope that the judiciary under Wan Ahmad Farid’s leadership would continue to strengthen judicial independence.

Wan Ahmad Farid will also serve as chairperson of the Judicial Appointments Committee (JAC) by virtue of his appointment as chief justice.

For context, the JAC comprises nine members, four of whom are automatically appointed based on their judicial positions

They are the chief justice - who will be the commission’s chairperson - the Court of Appeal president, and the two chief judges representing East and West Malaysia.

The rest of the members are appointed by the prime minister.

The matters highlighted by the MPs for the chief justice’s deliberation are: 

• Finalising the appointment of judges to fill 31 vacancies as soon as possible to prevent disruptions to the administration of justice;

• Ensuring judicial appointments are truly based on merit and seniority, so as to be fair to judges who have served long and have been responsible for maintaining the quality and good name of the judiciary;

• Ensuring judicial appointments follow the proper processes under the Federal Constitution and the JAC Act so that appointments are made based on merit and seniority as they should be;

• Ensuring there is no interference to engineer, control, or influence judicial appointments in a manner contrary to the principles of judicial independence, the Federal Constitution, the JAC Act or the spirit of procedures that must be observed to ensure the process is merit-based and fair to judges; and

• Resolving issues raised in previous JAC meetings, including follow-up action to investigate allegations of attempts to influence judicial decisions made against a Federal Court judge.

The statement, however, does not mention the nine PKR MPs’ previous call for the establishment of a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to investigate alleged judicial interference.

Their appeal for the Parliamentary Special Select Committee for Human Rights, Elections, and Institutional Reforms to investigate the issue was also not noted in the statement. 

However, the group urged Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim not to consider issues settled merely with Wan Ahmad Farid’s appointment, stressing that concerns will persist as long as improvements to the judicial appointments process have not been presented to the public and implemented.

As such, they presented several proposals for the government’s consideration, including refining the prime minister’s power to reject the nomination list from the JAC.

Make PM answerable, reduce his powers

The group argued that the prime minister should be required to provide official reasons, either to the JAC or Parliament, for rejecting candidates vetted by the commission.

They also urged the government to consider a proposal for candidates from the Bar in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, and Sarawak to be automatically appointed as JAC members.

This would reduce the prime minister’s power to appoint a majority of the commission’s members, they said.

The group also suggested Parliament’s involvement in confirming JAC nominations before they are presented to the prime minister, either through confirmation hearings as practised in other countries, or through a parliamentary vote.

READ MORE: KINIGUIDE | On the appointment of judges and how PM has a role

Noting that the announcement of Wan Ahmad Farid’s appointment at around midnight last night has “slightly eased” public concerns on judicial independence, the MPs observed a “mixed response” to the new chief justice.

“The initial response to (Wan Ahmad Farid)’s appointment has been mixed, given his background as a former Umno leader and the perception that he is more junior compared to some other judges.

“We hope that as the new chief justice, he will receive these various views with openness (as) they should serve as guidance and motivation for him to prove that his leadership will uphold judicial independence even better,” they added.

Wan Ahmad Farid appointed chief justice, oath taking ceremony on July 28

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