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Malay Mail
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Anwar tight-lipped on new IGP appointment, says decision not final yet
ISKANDAR PUTERI, June 19 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim did not disclose if the name of the individual who will be appointed as the new Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to replace Tan Sri Razarudin Husain, whose contract is scheduled to end on June 22, has been finalised or not. He also declined to say whether a list had been submitted to the palace. 'But who told you? Is it true? I'll ask the King later,' he quipped when asked by reporters about the matter. Anwar's statement came after media reports claimed that a list of IGP candidates had been finalised by the government and submitted to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. The appointment of the IGP is the prerogative of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, based on the prime minister's advice, as stipulated under Article 140 of the Federal Constitution. Razarudin was appointed as the 14th Inspector-General of Police for a two-year contract after his retirement, effective June 23, 2023, succeeding Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani. — Bernama
Free Malaysia Today
03-06-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Veteran diplomat Shahrul appointed Malaysia's new US ambassador
Malaysia's ambassador to the US, Shahrul Ikram Yaakob, receiving his letter of appointment from Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim at Istana Negara today. (Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar Facebook pic) PETALING JAYA : Former foreign ministry secretary-general Shahrul Ikram Yaakob has been appointed the new Malaysian ambassador to the US. The position had been vacant for more than four months since the previous ambassador, Nazri Aziz, ended his two-year stint in Washington in February. Shahrul, a career diplomat, received his letter of appointment from Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim at Istana Negara today. Shahrul served in the diplomatic service for 34 years, including two stints in the US. He was previously assigned to Malaysia's diplomatic missions in Washington and Beijing, among others. Shahrul held several key positions during his tenure at the foreign ministry, including deputy secretary-general for bilateral affairs, director-general of the Asean-Malaysia National Secretariat during Malaysia's Asean chairmanship in 2015, and undersecretary of the multilateral political division. He served as first secretary at Malaysia's embassy in Washington in the 1990s and was the country's permanent representative to the United Nations in New York from 2017 to 2018. He also served as Malaysia's ambassador to both Qatar and Austria.
Malay Mail
27-05-2025
- General
- Malay Mail
Muslims in Malaysia to celebrate Aidiladha on June 7
KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — Muslims in Malaysia will celebrate Aidiladha on June 7, according to Datuk Mohd Aseral Jusman, Assistant Secretary of the Conference of Rulers. In an announcement broadcast by Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) tonight, he also declared that 1 Zulhijjah 1446H will fall this Thursday. 'To fulfil the command of His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, with the consent of Their Royal Highnesses the Rulers, I hereby declare on behalf of the Keeper of the Rulers' Seal that 1 Zulhijjah 1446H will be on May 29, 2025,' he said. 'As such, Hari Raya Korban will be observed throughout Malaysia on Saturday, June 7, 2025,' he added. — Bernama
Malay Mail
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Malay Mail
JAC 101: The selection of Malaysia's judges, explained
KUALA LUMPUR, May 20 — How much of a role does Malaysia's prime minister play in the selection and appointment of the country's judges? And how have things changed before and after the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) was created in February 2009? And where do we go from here? 1. Before JAC and before the viral video: When only appointment process was stated Under the Federal Constitution's Article 122B, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong — acting on the prime minister's advice and after consulting the Conference of Rulers — appoints judges of the High Court, Court of Appeal, Federal Court and the top four judges including the chief justice (CJ). Before giving his advice, Article 122B requires the prime minister to consult others such as the CJ and one of the other top three judges — President of Court of Appeal, Chief Judge of the High Court in Malaya and Chief Judge of the High Court in Sabah and Sarawak — depending on the position to be filled. To be qualified as a judge, the Federal Constitution's Article 123 only says you have to be: a Malaysian had been a lawyer, a member of Malaysia's judicial and legal services, or a member of a state's legal service in the 10 years before appointment as judge. The Constitution does not give other details such as how a judge would be selected and what standards they should have. This changed after the VK Lingam tape scandal erupted on September 19, 2007, involving a video clip of a December 2001 phone conversation between a senior lawyer and a top judge on the alleged brokering of judges' appointments and promotions. The Malaysian Bar on September 26, 2007 proposed a JAC to restore public confidence in the judiciary, and the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the Lingam tape scandal in its May 2008 report also recommended setting up a JAC. 2. What is the JAC? Before this, the Federal Constitution only stated the process for appointment of judges. The JAC now fills in the gap by stating the process for selection of potential judges. So it is now like a two-step process. Simply put, the JAC filters and selects candidates for recommendation to the prime minister, before the prime minister gives advice to the Agong for the judges to be appointed. Based on the JAC Act 2009, the JAC has nine members: the top four judges, including the CJ who chairs the JAC five persons appointed by the prime minister: a Federal Court judge, and four eminent persons who are not members of the executive or public service This means the prime minister effectively controls the majority of appointments to the JAC, although the JAC Act does require the prime minister to appoint the four eminent persons after consultation with legal professional bodies and the attorney general. The PM can revoke the four eminent persons' appointments any time without giving a reason, and decides the allowance amount paid to JAC members. Based on regulations made under the JAC Act, JAC can receive either applications from candidates themselves for High Court vacancies or proposed names such as from the judiciary's current and outgoing top four judges as well as from eminent persons who have knowledge of the legal profession for Court of Appeal and Federal Court vacancies. JAC then checks if these names are qualified to even be selected as judges. 3. What are the qualifications you have to be a judge in Malaysia? Before this, Malaysians only knew that a potential judge had to be a Malaysian with 10 years' of relevant legal experience (based on Article 123). Now, with the JAC, there is a detailed list of standards that a candidate must meet: The JAC Act's Section 23 requires a candidate to: 1. Be qualified under Article 123 2. Meet five criteria: integrity, competency and experience objective, impartial, fair and good moral character decisiveness, ability to make timely judgments and good legal writing skills, industriousness and ability to manage cases well, physical and mental health. 3. Not be appointed if the candidate is a judge who has at least three unwritten judgments that have been overdue for at least 60 days On top of that, the JAC's website has a detailed list of 10 minimal essential qualities to be a judge, including integrity (which should be undisputed), legal knowledge and ability, professional experience, diligence, and health. As part of those 10 points, JAC also evaluates a candidate's judicial temperament — such as not being arrogant, impatient or arbitrary; being fair and calm — and financial responsibility, as it is important to predict if they can resist pressure that might compromise their independence. As part of the selection process, JAC's secretary has to send potential candidates' names to be screened by five agencies: the police, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the Companies Commission of Malaysia, Department of Insolvency Malaysia and the Inland Revenue Board. This is based on regulations created under the JAC Act. 4. Voting to select the candidates At JAC's selection meetings, there must be at least seven JAC members, and their votes on candidates must be by secret ballot and by majority decision. 5. How do JAC's recommended names go to PM? The JAC then submits a report to the PM on its recommended candidates and the reasons why it selected them. JAC has to give at least three candidates' names for each High Court judge vacancy, and at least two names for each vacancy for the more senior roles: the top four judges, Court of Appeal, Federal Court judges. However, after receiving the report, the PM may request two additional names for the more senior roles. After the PM accepts any names from JAC, he then gives his advice to the Agong under Article 122B. So it is still the Agong who appoints judges based on the PM's advice. 6. What are some safeguards in the JAC Act? JAC's members will stop being a member for reasons such as turning bankrupt, being of unsound mind or incapable of discharging his duties, or convicted for fraud or corruption offences. JAC members cannot attend a meeting to select candidates, if they are being considered as a candidate or if they are 'related' or 'connected' to a candidate. Related: Nine categories including if the candidate is JAC member's sibling, uncle, aunt, cousin, spouse, ex-spouse; family member of spouse or ex-spouse Connected: Eight categories including if the candidate is JAC member's nominee, partner, director in JAC member's company An offender may be fined up to RM100,000, jailed for up to two years, or both, if you commit any of these offences under the JAC Act: As a JAC member, fail to disclose your relationship to a candidate Anyone who influences or attempts to influence the decision of JAC or any JAC member Anyone who gives false or misleading information to JAC in support of any candidate for JAC's selection 7. Why is JAC in the spotlight again? On April 8, Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat's 24th Commonwealth Law Conference speech noted recent proposals for legal changes 'to remove the role of the prime minister in the appointment of judges', which she said would help ensure that the process remains based 'on merit and free from any perception of political influence'. Also on April 8, lawyer Datuk Syed Amir Syakib Arsalan Syed Ibrahim filed a lawsuit to ask the High Court to declare the JAC Act as unconstitutional and invalid, and to get a court order for the prime minister to follow the Article 122B process to appoint judges without JAC's 'interference'. The lawyer has also applied for a court order to temporarily suspend the JAC Act's mechanism and for the PM to still be allowed to give advice to the Agong to appoint judges without being subject to JAC's recommendations, pending the resolution of his lawsuit. The High Court will be hearing on June 25 the lawyer's application to temporarily allow the PM to skip following JAC's recommendations of candidates when giving advice while also enabling the appointment of judges to go on, and will hear the lawsuit on July 16. On April 9, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the government would defend the JAC Act's validity in court but also comprehensively review the JAC's framework to ensure judicial independence. 8. What are the existing suggestions to reform judicial appointments in Malaysia? The Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law's 2015 report on the Commonwealth's best practices for appointing judges noted that 81 per cent of Commonwealth countries — Malaysia among them —had a Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) responsible for selecting or shortlisting candidates, making it increasingly uncommon for such appointments to be handled solely by the government's executive branch. Local legal experts have also in a recent forum said the JAC has brought much-needed reforms to Malaysia's judicial appointments process and should be retained, with improvements, while also suggesting the prime minister continue to play a limited role in the entire process. Over the years and under the tenure of different PMs, many in civil society had pushed for reforms to the process of selecting judges in Malaysia and to enhance the JAC, including the Malaysian Bar — as early as December 2008 when it commented on the Bill for the JAC Act and even until now — and institutional reform group Bersih, through its 2021 policy research report. The Conference of Rulers had also on November 30, 2022 proposed removing the PM's role to appoint JAC members and to give this role to others such as a parliamentary select committee, the Malaysian Bar and its counterparts in Sabah and Sarawak.
Malay Mail
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Malay Mail
At forum, law experts say JAC good for Malaysia, suggest limiting PM's role in judges' selection, appointments
KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 — The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) — a panel which filters candidates to be judges based on their merits, ability and integrity — was a good step forward for the selection of judges in Malaysia, legal experts told a forum organised by the Malaysian Bar today. In calling for the JAC to be retained and further improved, the law experts even discussed suggestions such as amending the Federal Constitution to include and enhance the JAC's position, and limiting the prime minister's role in the judicial appointment process. Currently, there is a two-stage process in Malaysia for the selection and appointment of judges. The JAC first vets through potential candidates to make sure they are qualified and suitable and then votes on these candidates, before recommending the selected candidates to the prime minister. If the prime minister accepts these recommended names, the prime minister then gives advice to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for these candidates to be either appointed or promoted as judges. The Agong makes the appointment after consulting the Conference of Rulers. But the prime minister can ask for the JAC to provide other recommended names if he does not accept the candidates given, before he eventually gives advice to the King for judges to be appointed. Emeritus Prof Datuk Shad Saleem Faruqi, who was formerly a JAC member, said the JAC should continue to exist and suggested that the prime minister's role be limited to just a formal role during the process of appointing judges. 'I personally support the existence of the JAC, though I recognise there is need for some reforms, especially on the issue of whether the recommendations of the JAC should be binding on the prime minister,' the holder of Universiti Malaya's Tunku Abdul Rahman chair said as a speaker at the forum. 'I think the prime minister and the Conference of Rulers, their role should be a formal role whereby the names are sent and there's some consultation. 'For example, the prime minister sends the name to the King, the King is required to consult with the Conference of Rulers. 'Consult' is not the same thing as 'consent', but consultation is useful because some facts might come out,' he said, noting that there was previously a Conference of Rulers meeting many years ago when a judge who was to be promoted was discovered to have had more than 30 unwritten judgments. 'I think consultation is good, but ultimately the recommendation of the JAC should be binding,' he said, adding that the prime minister, Agong and the Conference of Rulers should continue to play a role in the process of appointing judges. Co-chairperson of Bar Council Civil Law and Law Reform Committee Datuk Seri M. Ramachelvam addresses the floor during the Judicial Independence in Malaysia Forum in Kuala Lumpur May 10, 2025. — Picture by Sayuti Zainudin Fellow forum speaker Datuk Seri M. Ramachelvam, who is co-chair of the Bar Council's Civil Law and Law Reform Committee, said the introduction of the JAC has improved the process of how judges are appointed in Malaysia and that the law should be amended so that the prime minister is bound to follow the JAC's recommendations. He said many other Commonwealth countries had also introduced a JAC, but they have not removed the formal role of the prime minister in the process of appointing judges. He also said the recommended model clause in the Commonwealth is for the JAC's recommendations to be binding on the prime minister, while also maintaining the formality of sending the recommendations to the prime minister. Lawyer Alex De Silva, who proposed the motion adopted by the Malaysian Bar as a resolution in March this year to defend the judiciary's independence and who was also a speaker at the forum, said the formation of the JAC in Malaysia in 2009 'was a good thing' and that it had brought 'much needed reform'. 'I think one thing we cannot run away from, as much as we say we want to remove or lessen the role played by the prime minister, you cannot run away from the fact that in most jurisdictions, even if we go to UK, the prime minister is involved,' he said, adding: 'The only way we can do it is perhaps lessen his role, but we cannot remove him from the process.' International Islamic Universiti Malaysia Lecturer Associate Prof Datuk Shamrahayu Ab Aziz speaks during the Judicial Independence in Malaysia Forum in Kuala Lumpur May 10, 2025. — Picture by Sayuti Zainudin Datuk Shamrahayu Ab Aziz, who was also a former JAC member, said at the forum: 'I believe by having JAC, we are in the right direction.' Shamrahayu, associate professor and lecturer at International Islamic University Malaysia, said it 'may not be possible' in both Malaysia and other countries to totally remove the participation of the government's executive branch, but said there could instead be 'certain limitation' on the prime minister's role instead in the process of appointing judges. She said there must be mechanisms to ensure the executive's involvement in the process was a 'controlled one' and that the executive is not given total discretion. Proposing that JAC's role be inserted into the Federal Constitution, she said Malaysia should also consider giving JAC members security of tenure so that the 'JAC will also give their recommendations to the prime minister without fear or favour'. She said the criteria of those to be selected as JAC members should also be further discussed. These legal experts were all speakers in two separate panels at the Malaysian Bar's forum titled 'Judicial Independence in Malaysia: Past Lessons, Current Challenges'. Other panellists at the forum were former JAC member and retired Court of Appeal judge Datuk Mah Weng Kwai and lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla.
