WHILE applauding his Malay brethren for having assumed the very top level of the judiciary, former de-facto law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has nevertheless stressed the need for the Malaysian judiciary “to have a good mix of judges from various races and backgrounds”.
Although it might just be a coincidence, Zaid pointed to the fact that judges elevated and promoted to the Court of Appeal and the high offices of the Federal Court during yesterday’s (Nov 12) presentation of instruments of appointment to 25 judges at the Istana Negara were all Malays.
“Yesterday (Nov 12), we witnessed many judges elevated and promoted to the Court of Appeal and the high offices of the Federal Court. Even the vacancies in the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) were filled,” he observed in a post on the X platform.
Malaysian Judges
Yesterday, we witnessed many judges elevated and promoted to the Court of Appeal and the high offices of the Federal Court. Even the vacancies in the Judicial Appointments Commission were filled.
I want to congratulate all of them.
One unmistakable feature…
— Zaid Ibrahim (@zaidibrahim) November 12, 2024
“I want to congratulate all of them. One unmistakable feature of the exercise was that they were all Malays. It’s obvious now that Malays make good lawyers. How times have changed.”
Even as such development is encouraging, there is a tinge of uneasiness in Zaid that diversity must prevail in the Malaysian judiciary. To him, a multi-racial and multi-religious Malaysia must eventually reflect “its cosmopolitan nature in its judiciary”.
“Everyone will gain from that if politics permit,” reckoned Zaid who served for a short spell as the defence counsel for incarcerated former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
“I’m sure that we’ll have more non-Malay judges in the future. If politics permits, we may even have them at the top of the judiciary someday.
“This is all possible because in my younger days, many top lawyers were Chinese and Indians, and they served the judiciary at the highest level even when the pay was low.
“We certainly need a good mix of judges from various races and backgrounds. Justice is both substantive and perceived, and it can be hard to find sometimes. When the dispensers of justice are from your community, there is comfort there.”
Yesterday (Nov 12), His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia handed over instruments of appointment to 25 judges led by Chief Judge of Malaya Datuk Seri Hasnah Mohamed Hashim, followed by Federal Court Judge Tan Sri Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh.
This was followed by eight Court of Appeal judges, namely Datuk Noorin Badaruddin; Datuk Seri Mohd Firuz Jaffril; Datuk Dr Alwi Abdul Wahab; Datuk Faizah Jamaludin; Datuk Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid; Datuk Ismail Brahim; Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh; and Datuk Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin.
Earlier, Zaid recalled the hardship he endured when trying to build his once law firm, Zaid Ibrahim & Co.
“Looking for good Malay lawyers was a struggle (back then). Some had good academic results but fared poorly in other skills. I had to ask around and even resort to employing head hunters which was an expensive affair,” recounted the opposition-slant UMNO member.
“Some who did not like me accused me of not caring about Bumiputera’s interests which was entirely false. My approach was to try to get the best lawyers I could find.
“Bumiputera lawyers who ended up in the firm would go out to practise independently with great success. Others became general counsels of major conglomerates. I’m proud of them.” – Nov 13, 2024
Main image credit: Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar/Facebook
