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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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. ...

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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 ...

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by GK Ganesan July 22, 2018
Blog , English , For Lawyers

What is the most tedious aspect of being a lawyer?

What is the most tedious aspect of being a lawyer? The never-ending paperwork. Answering phone calls all hours of the day; especially if you are into international practice. Doing everything at the last minute because clients won’t give you what you want – that despite you asking them for the documents numerous times, and far ahead of time. Having to take the blame for the errors client’s executives make. Holding clients’ hands in times ...

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by GK Ganesan July 20, 2018
Blog , BM , For Lawyers

Malaysia mempunyai dua Ketua Hakim?

Malaysia mempunyai dua Ketua Hakim Negara? Dalam artikel bertarikh 13.07.2018, bekas Ketua Hakim Negara, Tun Abdul Hamid mengatakan bahawa daripada jam 9:30pm pada 11.07.2018 sehingga tengah malam pada 31.07.2018 Malaysia mempunyai dua Ketua Hakim. Adakah beliau betul dalam mengatakan sedemikan? Apabila Yang di-Pertuan Agong (‘YDPA’) menerima peletakan jawatan Ketua Hakim Negara (‘KHN’) dan Presiden Mahkamah Rayuan (‘PMR’) pada 08.06.2018, secara automatik peranan mereka sebagai KHN dan PMR tamat serta merta. YDPA tidak melanjutkan ...

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by GK Ganesan July 19, 2018
Blog , BM

Adakah kegagalan mengemukakan nama Speaker baru 14 hari sebelum persidangan Dewan Rakyat satu kegagalan parah?

Adakah kegagalan mengemukakan nama Speaker baru 14 hari sebelum persidagan Dewan Rakyat satu kegagalan parah? Adakah kegagalan untuk mengemukakan nama speaker baru 14 hari sebelum persidangan Dewan Rakyat merupakan satu perlanggaran undang-undang? Adakah kegagalan mengemukakan Yang di-Pertua Dato Mohamad Ariff bin Md Yusof kepada Setiausaha Dewan Rakyat dalam 14 hari membawa apa-apa kesan buruk?Jika tidak, tiada keperluan untuk bincang isu ini panjang lebar. Bagaimana jikalau ya? Permulaan Kita harus melihat kepada Peraturan Tetap ...

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by GK Ganesan July 19, 2018
Blog , BM

Bolehkah Mahkamah mengeluarkan perintah ‘gag’?

Bolehkah Mahkamah mengeluarkan perintah ‘gag’? Ketika bekas perdana Menteri Najib Razak didakwa di Mahkamah beberapa hari lalu, Mahkamah tinggi telah memberikan satu perintah ‘gag’ [Perintah Larangan Bersuara]? selepas satu permohonan oleh peguamnya. Perintah itu bertujuan untuk menghentikan perbincangan awam berhubung dengaan dakwaan yang ditangguhkan terhadap Najib. Mahkamah berkata ia akan membuat keputusan mengenai perintah gag tersebut setelah mendengar hujahan daripada pihak-pihak. Walau bagaimanapun, Mahkamah telah mengeluarkan satu perintah sementara. Perintah gag adalah satu ...

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by GK Ganesan July 17, 2018
Blog , English

Are there now two Chief Justices in Malaysia?

[Edited by S. Kamatchy and Suria Juan Pillai] In an article dated 13.07.2018, the ex-Chief Justice, Tun Abdul Hamid says that from 9:30 p.m. on July 11 up to midnight July 31, 2018 there are now two Chief Justices. Is he right? The long and short of all of this is… When the King accepted the resignations of the outgoing CJ and the PCA on 8 June 2018, their offices ceased. The King did ...

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