by Shaila Koshy - The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Bar welcomes the recent firm action taken by the Chief Justice against grossly inefficient judges and called for the publication of an annual report of how complaints against judges have been disposed off.
“The Bar has been waiting for such news for some time now because past complaints against certain misbehaving judges do not appear to have been acted on,” said its vice-president Lim Chee Wee, adding that a few bad apples had tarnished the image of the majority who are honest and competent.
He, however, said the publication of the number of complaints lodged and action taken should be on a no-name basis.
He was commenting on the article in the Sunday Star in which Chief Justice Tun Zaki Azmi confirmed two senior High Court judges had been asked to resign on their own accord.
“Misbehaving judges plague any judiciary but what distinguishes them worldwide is whether and how such judges are dealt with,” he said, adding that recently in the United States a Federal Court judge, Samuel Kent, was removed for repeated sexual molestation of two female court staff.
“Taking public disciplinary action (namely establishing a Tribunal to investigate and if found guilty to remove the judge) against misbehaving judges requires a certain will to rid the judiciary of such judges.
“When I was the KL Bar chairman I lodged a complaint to the then Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz (Sheikh Abdul Halim) against a High Court Judge who made highly inappropriate comments (with sexual references) in his Chambers to a few pupils and international school students.
“When the former CJ requested for a statutory declaration of the event, a very courageous young lady unhesitatingly did so.
“Unfortunately, no public disciplinary action has been taken against this judge although I understand he was admonished and asked to resign, which he refused to do.
“It is at this stage if removal is too harsh a sanction – although my view is that the consistently bad behaviour of this particular judge necessitates removal – the lesser sanctions envisaged by the Judges Ethics Committee Bill may be timely,” he said.
Lim added that the criticisms of the Bill – that there is too much power vested in the Chief Justice and the lack of a requirement for the publication of an annual report – should be addressed before the Bill is tabled in Parliament.
“The CJ has to deal with grossly incompetent or inefficient judges who are unable to keep up with the higher disposal rates he has set.
“It may be the case that these judges will also have to resign or if they are judicial commissioners, they will not be confirmed as judges,” he said.
Stressing that the speedy disposal of cases had to be balanced with the right to a fair hearing, Lim said Malaysia had no option but to increase the standard of the Judiciary and the Bar in order to improve confidence in its justice system and global competitiveness.
“Misbehaving judges plague any judiciary but what distinguishes them worldwide is whether and how such judges are dealt with,” he said, adding that recently in the United States a Federal Court judge, Samuel Kent, was removed for repeated sexual molestation of two female court staff.
“Taking public disciplinary action (namely establishing a Tribunal to investigate and if found guilty to remove the judge) against misbehaving judges requires a certain will to rid the judiciary of such judges.
“When I was the KL Bar chairman I lodged a complaint to the then Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz (Sheikh Abdul Halim) against a High Court Judge who made highly inappropriate comments (with sexual references) in his Chambers to a few pupils and international school students.
“When the former CJ requested for a statutory declaration of the event, a very courageous young lady unhesitatingly did so.
“Unfortunately, no public disciplinary action has been taken against this judge although I understand he was admonished and asked to resign, which he refused to do.
“It is at this stage if removal is too harsh a sanction – although my view is that the consistently bad behaviour of this particular judge necessitates removal – the lesser sanctions envisaged by the Judges Ethics Committee Bill may be timely,” he said.
Lim added that the criticisms of the Bill – that there is too much power vested in the Chief Justice and the lack of a requirement for the publication of an annual report – should be addressed before the Bill is tabled in Parliament.
“The CJ has to deal with grossly incompetent or inefficient judges who are unable to keep up with the higher disposal rates he has set.
“It may be the case that these judges will also have to resign or if they are judicial commissioners, they will not be confirmed as judges,” he said.
Stressing that the speedy disposal of cases had to be balanced with the right to a fair hearing, Lim said Malaysia had no option but to increase the standard of the Judiciary and the Bar in order to improve confidence in its justice system and global competitiveness.
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