Initiative Needed for Judicial Reform

By Onlooker on June 28, 2008 8:44 PM

Dear Tun Dr. Mahathir,

Please allow me to drop a few words here in response to the comment by Hai on June 27, 2008 9:14 PM in your blog.

The article posted by Hai is a good and knowledge-nourishing discussion on Judicial Independence. However, readers are advised to read it within the scope of certain judiciary system which requires the judges to be elected by the registered voters. In most countries such as Malaysia and Singapore, judges are not elected by the ordinary people who have the voting rights. In Malaysia, judges are usually being appointed by the Paramount Ruler, Yang Dipertuan Agong, based on the recommendations of the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice. The Chief Justice of Malaysia is appointed by the Paramount Ruler with the recommendation of the Prime Minister.

Therefore, the freedom of campaigning on judicial independence is severely restricted by the undemocratic system of appointment. The Prime Minister as the head of Executive Branch will usually be reluctant to grant full judicial independence to the Judicial Branch. Therefore, in my personal opinion, a thorough judicial reform in Malaysia seems to be impossible before a thorough political reform can be made happen to the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch. The dream of Judicial Reform in Malaysia will only come true when the initiative of reform is coming directly from both the salary dispenser (Executive Branch) and the law-maker (Legislative Branch). This initiative may imply that Malaysia needs great courage and strong willingness to accept big changes by approving major overhaul in the Federal Constitution to make it resemble the Constitution of the United States.

Onlooker