by GK Ganesan August 25, 2018
Blog , Constitutional Law , English , Government , Politics

Will Corruption Amnesty Work? [Part-2: Proposals]

This is Part 2 of the article entitled, ‘Will Corruption Amnesty Work?’ You’ll find part 1 here. We saw, in Part-1, how if we sack every corrupt person, we’d lose a substantial number of people in enforcement agencies, local governments, courts, and the Government. This is because corruption in Malaysia is deep-seated. So what? Corruption and State Capture Corruptions infects and emaciates a nation, its institutions and its people. It kills a just and efficient ...

Read More
by GK Ganesan August 22, 2018
Blog , English , For Lawyers

Should judges condone inequitable behaviour of counsel?

How far should lawyers go to win a case? And how long should judges refuse to sanction counsel’s egregious conduct? Advocates and solicitors ( ‘lawyer’ and ‘counsel’ are used interchangeably) always must exhibit the highest level of professional conduct. They must always uphold the dignity of the profession and the interest of justice. Towards opposing counsel they must show candour, courtesy and fairness. No one should deceive a court, or his or ...

Read More
by GK Ganesan August 12, 2018
Blog , Constitutional Law , English , Government , Home Featured Articles , Politics

Could we eliminate electoral fraud by improving election laws?

Could we eliminate electoral fraud by improving election laws? An election petition is a difficult thing. The law has ring-fenced it with several impenetrable technical rules.  Combating electoral corruption under the current, antiquated laws is impossible. After the results of the 13th General elections results were announced on 5 March 2013, I was asked, with a dozen others, to file election petitions for 22 constituencies in Perak. The petitions alleged that the winners ...

Read More
by GK Ganesan August 7, 2018
Blog , English , For Lawyers

On the horns of a dilemma – will the Federal Court judges recuse themselves?

An unusual thing happened at the Federal Court on August 6, 2018.  There is a history to this.  You know it well. It concerns a company called 1MDB and the ex-PM Najib Razak. On March 23, 2016, Mahathir sued the then PM Najib Razak for ‘misfeasance in public office’. The High Court struck out the suit. The judge ruled that a prime minister was not a ‘public officer.  The Court of ...

Read More
by GK Ganesan August 3, 2018
Blog , Constitutional Law , English , Government , Politics

Why are we mollycoddling our public figures?

Why are we mollycoddling our public figures? There is a weapon far deadlier than a nuclear bomb. Words are the most powerful weapons in all the world.  So much so that a cautionary note penned in 1885 reads: - ‘Every word is endowed with a spirit … One word may be likened unto fire, another unto light, and the influence which both exert is manifest in the world.’ It has been said that a ...

Read More
by GK Ganesan July 31, 2018
Blog , Constitutional Law , English , Government , Politics

Who said the Prime Minister is not a public officer?

Who said the Prime Minister is not a public officer? Two separate panels of the Court of Appeal did. One panel heard Mahathir’s appeal.  It delivered its decision in April of this year. The second panel of the Court of Appeal heard Tony Pua’s appeal and delivered its decision last week. Both Mahathir and Tony Pua had sued the then Prime Minister Najib for the tort of public misfeasance. Both lost. When they ...

Read More
by GK Ganesan July 24, 2018
Blog , English

Would you resign on a point of principle?

Will you resign on a point of principle? Someone asked whether a person must resign from a post, on grounds of principle. It created a debate. It went like this: One said she would not, for' it was better to stay on, and fight'. Another said 'a good man must leave'. He would not consort with those who acted outside the norms of integrity and propriety. A third said: - ‘It depends on who ‘me’ was’. And ...

Read More
by GK Ganesan July 23, 2018
Blog , English , For Lawyers

What is the most cunning strategy used by lawyers?

What is the most cunning strategy employed by lawyers? None. It is not your cunning that gets you through a case. It is not your brilliance. The Bar is full of brilliant lawyers. Yet they are not all uniformly successful. It is painful, excruciating preparation that gets you through. Here is a true life and death story: it concerned a foreigner. He was found guilty of drug trafficking and was sentenced to death. ...

Read More
by GK Ganesan July 22, 2018
Blog , English

The client who paid a king’s ransom

There is a client who paid me a king's ransom. This happened many, many years ago. It concerned an elderly ethnic Chinese gentleman and his wife. In the interior of Perak there is a tiny farm. A brook courses through it. On one side of it stood a wooden shack. A family lived there. This Uncle (as we shall call him) was born there. He had an elder brother. After many decades, his ...

Read More