What happens when judges, bending like reeds in the wind, carry out the biddings of their political masters? Something extraordinary has to be done. Corrupt judges, past and present, ought to be publicly impeached. Can it be done? How?
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Can a judge say in his letter of resignation, "I resign, but the effective date is two months hence"?
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Blog , English , For Lawyers
Why the unholy rush to appoint a new Chief Justice and President of the Court of Appeal?
We are at it again. If a person makes an error once, one can attribute it to a lapse of judgement. If a person makes the same error repeatedly, something is not right. When the outgoing Chief Justice of the Federal Court (‘CJ’) and the President of the Court of Appeal (‘PCA’) were appointed there was widespread discontent with the process of their appointment. The complaint was that they had been appointed ...
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Someone asked me last week, ‘What did Karpal do for us? What did Lim Kit Siang?’ I blinked. I thought I didn’t hear it right. What did they do? The guy who asked was young. Too young. I attempted an answer and unaccountably slipped into melancholy. I began by saying... These men fought a long-drawn out battle against an implacable enemy—entrenched racism. They fought for the rule of law. They argued that the ...
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In the last few weeks we have been hearing the phrase ‘the Rule of Law’. It is time to examine this and another related concept, the ‘Separation of Powers’. If we do, we will encourage our nation rulers to work better, work more effectively, and work to produce justice. Rule of Law The concept of Rule of Law is easy to understand. You needn't be a lawyer to know what it is: you can ...
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CX4NkBsvlk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0aJu63DIik Is every vote of equal strength? Does every vote, cast at any part of the nation, possess the same effect? Let’s use the 2018 General Elections (GE-14) as an example. The Kapar parliamentary constituency [P109] represents one seat in parliament. The Putrajaya constituency [P125] also represents one seat. What is the difference? Kapar had, in GE-14, 124,983 voters. Putrajaya had 27,314 voters. So, comparing apple-to-apple, for a single parliamentary seat, Kapar had 4.6 times ...
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Dissent means disagreement between judges. In a case comprising, say 3 judges, a dissent occurs when one judge distances himself or herself from the other 2 on grounds of legal principle. A dissent is not without its uses. It may limit the majority decision in some way. Or the dissent may bear a seed of a wonderful legal point waiting to germinate at some future time. A brilliant lawyer will water ...
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A recent spate of social media messages argue that the former prime minister Najib enjoys absolute immunity from criminal sanction. The messages refer to an article by Mr Charles Hector, entitled: ‘Najib – Cannot be charged for crimes as a public servant until law is changed?’ Now, did Charles say the former PM was immune from any criminal prosecution? In 2016, Tun Mahathir sued Najib. Mahathir alleged that there had been ...
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Blog , English , For Lawyers
Does The AG Need To Be A Malay Or A Muslim? Does He Have To Advise On Syariah Law?
The nation is trundling towards a calamitous constitutional misunderstanding. Someone has to do something about it and set matters straight. Let us identify what is happening. A debate has begun to rage. It concerns the identity of the person who should be the next Attorney General. It is about constitutional provisions regarding what characteristics the Attorney General should have—and whether the current nominee, Mr. Tommy Thomas has them. Two conflicting ideas At the heart ...
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Blog , English , For Lawyers
Reconsider status, role and appointment of Attorney General – Amend the Constitution!
The provisions of the Malaysian Federal Constitution - which regulate the powers of the AG are in a mess. Urgent reform is imperative.
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