Create a strong judiciary, urges Raja Nazrin

The New Straits Times 
by JASPAL SINGH

JUSTICE FOR ALL: Ensure rights and freedoms are protected, says Perak regent

IPOH: JUDGES and lawyers need to work towards creating a strong judiciary and justice system to protect the rights, equalities and freedoms guaranteed by the Federal Constitution.

Regent of Perak Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, in issuing the reminder, stressed that a strong judiciary and a sound justice system were a pre-requisite for the growth and development of a nation.

It was imperative, he said, that lawyers and judges alike possess high levels of intellectual capacity, as well as emotional and social intelligence to gain the citizens' and other stakeholders' trust and confidence in the justice system.

"The role of lawyers and judges in the incremental development of the law and upholding justice are integral towards achieving the ultimate objective of the supremacy of the rule of law in civil society.

"These traits will allow the legal profession to achieve greater heights.

"The challenges faced by the legal profession, too, can be easily identified and solved in time through perseverance and steadfast commitment to these ideals," he said in a keynote address at the opening of the Inaugural Perak Bar Law Lectures 2013.

Raja Nazrin said a nation must strive to give due respect to the freedom of individuals and it had to balance that freedom with that of the collective whole.

"In a democratic society such as ours, the legal system is the ultimate bastion that ensures fairness and justice so that all are treated in a fair and equal manner.

"The courts and lawyers, therefore, have an important role in preserving the rights, equalities and freedom guaranteed by the (Federal) Constitution."

National development could not disregard the need for a strong, fair and dynamic legal system which was integral to a prosperous and developed nation, he said.

Present were Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Zulkefli Ahmad Makinuddin, senior Ipoh High Court judge Datuk Zainal Adzam Abd Ghani, Perak Bar Committee chairman Vivekanandan A.M.S Periasamy, deputy chair of the Asia Practice Section of the Commercial Bar of Victoria Dr Joshua D Wilson and Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir.

Later, Raja Nazrin presented the Perak Bar Lifetime Achievement Award to Tan Sri V. Jeyaratnam and the Perak Bar Sports Achievement Award to Purshotamandas Nathermal Thadani.

He also witnessed the exchange of a memorandum of cooperation between the Perak Bar and the Victoria Bar, which would accelerate Perak into becoming a centre of arbitration and mediation training in the Asia-Pacific region.