The government today proposed that a Judges' Ethics Committee be set up to oversee the conduct and discipline of judges, other than the removal of a judge from office.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz, who is also de facto law minister, tabled the Bill for first reading in the Dewan Rakyat this morning.

parliament gobind singh ban over nazri mistake 251108 04 According to a copy of the Bill, the committee will be chaired by the chief justice - unless the judiciary's top person is himself the complainant.

The committee will consist of either serving or former top judiciary officers as the CJ deems fit to appoint and their appointment will be on an ad hoc basis.

The Bill also has a provision to deal with committee members suspected of having a direct or indirect interest in the disciplinary proceeding.

Under clause 10 of the Bill, members of the committee found to have a direct or indirect interest in any disciplinary proceeding are required to disclose this to the committee and will not be allowed to partake in the deliberation of any particular proceeding.

Disciplinary proceedings however will not be a 'trial' but will only act as an enquiry as regards to the breach of any provisions of the code of ethics committed by a judge referred to the committee by the CJ.

"Clause 9 specifically states that the proceeding of the committee shall be an enquiry upon reference made by the CJ and not a trial. That being so, the strict rules of evidence under the Evidence Act do not apply in such proceedings."

Decision cannot be appealed

The Bill further states that the findings or decisions made by the committee cannot be subject to judicial review.

"Notwithstanding any provision in any other written law, the decision of the committee shall be final and conclusive and shall not be challenged, appealed against, reviewed, quashed or called in question in any court on any ground.

"And no court shall have jurisdiction to entertain or determine any suit, application, question or proceeding on any ground regarding the validity of such decision."

It added that the judgment of the committee shall be given to the judge who is the subject of the disciplinary proceeding via a written judgment.

There is however no clear provision to state what action will be taken against the implicated judge, which seems to suggest that the committee will not have prosecutory powers.

The proposal for the committee came after Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi tabled the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill in Parliament last week.

Codify the 1994 code first

Meanwhile Karpal Singh (DAP- Bukit Gelugor) said although the Bill was a commendable effort, there were certain questionable issues like the total lack of explanation on the Judges' Code of Ethics mentioned in the bill.

He argued that it would be ridiculous to pass the Bill without first defining what the Judges' Code of Ethics was.

"In Section 7 of the bill, it is stated that the exercise of its function under this Act, the committee shall abide by the principles and procedures set out in this Act and the Code of Ethics.

karpal singh 201108 "It is indeed surprising that the Bill, the central platform of which is the Judges' code of ethics 2008 is yet to be codified," he told a press conference.

Karpal said that there was in existence the Judges' code of ethics since 1994 and section 2 (2) of the code provides that judges be removed from office should they be found to have breached the code.

"There have been quite a few instances of judges ridiculing and humiliating lawyers in open court for no justifiable reason without regard to the psychological effect on the counsel.

"It is imperative that the Judges' Ethics Committee Bill be passed during this meeting. However, Parliament should not be made a laughing stock to have the Bill passed without bringing into existence and enforcement code of ethics mentioned in it," said the veteran lawyer.