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Salim Bashir said there have been precedents in the past with the appointments of Zaki Azmi in 2007 and the late Gopal Sri Ram in 1994. “These two judges did well to enhance the image of the judiciary,” he said.
Zaki, a practising lawyer who was the first to be appointed directly to the Federal Court, later became chief justice. He was also noted for modernising the judiciary by introducing technologies to clear the backlog of cases.
Sri Ram, who was appointed directly to the Court of Appeal, is best remembered for providing landmark judgments in several areas of the law.
Salim said other judges, such as Mahadev Shankar and V C George, who were appointed straight to the High Court, were still remembered for their remarkable versatility.
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Salim’s proposal is in response to the impending retirement of eight judges from the Federal Court next year – an unprecedented exodus – which would also create openings on the High Court and Court of Appeal.
Those retiring are the Chief Justice, Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat; Court of Appeal president Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim; Chief Judge of Malaya, Hasnah Hashim; Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, Abdul Rahman Sebli; and Federal Court judges Zabariah Yusof, Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal, Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil, and Hanipah Farikullah.
Since the 1990s, candidates from the legal and judicial services have been appointed as judicial commissioners before being confirmed as judges, a practice that has been continued after the Judicial Appointments Commission was established in 2009.
This practice, of placing judicial officers “on probation” went against the security of tenure guaranteed under the constitution, according to lawyer Syed Iskandar Syed Jaafar.
“They are judges ‘on trial’. This is not a good practice because the confirmation process is held as a carrot or a stick to see how the person performs,” he added.
He called for an end to the appointment of judicial commissioners with the intent of promoting them to the High Court. He said the practice is no longer aligned with its original purpose in the 1970s of ad hoc appointments to deal with a severe backlog of cases.
However, Syed Iskandar welcomed a recent decision to appoint at least two judicial commissioners to help clear a backlog at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur.
More appeals court judges needed
A retired judge said competent lawyers should be appointed as judges on the Court of Appeal, as it is regarded as the “engine” of the judiciary.
He said the appeals court is considered the “apex court” for cases originating from the sessions and magistrates’ courts, and as the intermediate court for matters coming from the High Court.
He said the Court of Appeal must also issue more judgments in cases of public interest to guide subordinate court judges, as there is currently a lack of written judgments from appeals arising from the lower courts.
“These are cases where the lower courts require guidance on points of evidence and procedures,” said the ex-judge who spoke on condition of anonymity.
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