Just when many of us believe that with the establishment a three-man independent panel to investigate the authenticity of the "Lingam video" as announced by DPM Najib Tun Razak, the "Putrajaya March: Walk For Justice" scheduled to take place later will be cancelled.

No, that’s not the case.

Bar Council chairman Ambiga Sreenevasan in an official statement on the Bar Council’s website reiterated the march for justice will go on as planned notwithstanding the newly setup independent panel headed by former Chief Judge of Malaya Haidar Mohd Noor, with former Court of Appeal Judge Mahadev Shankar and prominent social activist Lee Lam Thye as members.

"This falls short of the Bar’s call for an investigation by a Royal Commission not only of the recording but of larger issues affecting the state of the administration of justice in Malaysia", said Ambiga.

Furthermore, even before the "independent panel" starts to work, the integrity of some members in the panel are being questioned by the public as well as Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang.

"The selection of members of the inquiry panel is highly questionable, particularly as the former Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Haidar Mohd Noor had played a most controversial role in the 1988 Judicial Crisis (he was at the time Chief Registrar of Supreme Court) leading to the arbitrary and unconstitutional sacking of Tun Salleh Abas as Lord President and Datuk George Seah and the late Tan Sri Wan Suleiman as Supreme Court Judges," he said.

A fair and fearless independent judiciary is a cornerstone of our democracy, where judges must be concerned only with upholding the cause of justice without fear or favour.

The words of Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah, a former Lord President in 1986, adequately explains the need for judges to be independent.

"..The Judges are independent of all — the executive, Parliament and from within themselves — and are free to act in an independent and unbiased manner. No member of the Government, no Member of Parliament, and no official of any Government department has any right whatever to direct or influence the decision of any of the judges. It is the sure knowledge of this that gives the public confidence in the judges. The judges are not beholden politically to any government…"

For too long, we’ve suffered the shortcoming in our judiciary.

The time for affirmative action is now.

Be prepared to stand up for and resurrects the independence of this country’s judiciary system back to its glory day which we believe in.

It is easy to give up hope in our judiciary, but if we do so all is lost.

What we need more than ever before is to strive for far-reaching reforms that will re-instill public confidence in the judiciary.

Let’s spread the message to everyone … Let’s walk the talk, people!

Permalink | Leave a comment | Trackback
Subscribe to Email Feed | Subscribe to RSS Feed