Yesterday, declaring open the 14th Malaysian Law Conference, Malaysiakini reported that HRH Sultan Azlan Shah of Perak said public perception of the judiciary matters.

In this regard the principal quality a judiciary must possess is “impartiality”. Lord Devlin said of "judicial impartiality" that it exists in two senses-the reality of impartiality and the appearance of impartiality. He emphasized that the appearance of impartiality was the more important of the two.

Impartiality also means that judges are not only free from influence of external forces, but also of one another. No judge however senior can dictate to his brethren as to how a decision should be arrived at.

It is of the essence of a judge’s character that he must be a person of unquestionable integrity who brings an unbiased mind to his task.

Click here to read the full speech and download the article in PDF here.

While the Sultan admitted that society is more complex today and the task of judges may be more difficult then what it was before, but the values are universal and eternal, hence he is convinced that there is no reason why judges with the assured security of tenure they enjoy under the Constitution should not discharge their duties impartially, confidently and competently.

Lastly, he concluded that judges in Malaysia must be ever mindful that they are appointed judges for all Malaysians, therefore they must be sensitive to the feelings of all parties, irrespective of race, religion or creed, and be careful not to bring a predisposed mind to an issue before them that is capable of being misconstrued by the watching public or segments of them.

"In a multi-racial and multi religious society like yours and mine, while we judges cannot help being Malay or Chinese or Indian; or being Muslim or Buddhist or Hindu or whatever, we strive not to be too identified with any particular race or religion – so that nobody reading our judgement with our name deleted could with confidence identity our race or religion, and so that the various communities, especially minority communities, are assured that we will not allow their rights to be trampled underfoot." [Tun Suffian, Lord President from 1974 to 1982]

Daulat Tuanku!

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who cancelled his appearance at the opening ceremony at the eleventh hour, in his keynote address at a dinner hosted by him said that judiciary problem in Malaysia hasn’t reached its worst yet.

"A demonstration gives the impression that a problem has reached an intractable impasse, even when, in reality, it has not," he said.

Just like what the rubbish minister has to say, erosion of public confidence in the judiciary is a matter of perception, hence to him and the Government, there isn’t any crisis in place.

"That’s their perception which may not necessary be mine. What is (meant by) ‘public’? Does it mean 1,000 to 2,000 people or the whole nation? We respect opinions but the government has its own perception so we agree to disagree." […]

"They (Bar Council) are talking from a legal point of view (but) we (the government) run a country. We’re looking from the summit of the mountain and they are looking (from) their eye level."

Having said all of that, justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done. That is a basic principle for any society that respects and upholds the rule of law, where one of the fundamental rules of any functioning democracy is a clear and transparent system of justice.

Unfortunately, this is the essential part where the rubbish minister, the PM and the Government fails to see and act upon.

By choice or by default? You bet.

P/S: HRH Sultan Azlan Shah is a constitutional law expert and former Lord President (now called Chief Justice) before he relinquished the post to become the Raja Muda of Perak in 1984 and on to become the Sultan of Perak a few months later when his predecessor, Sultan Idris Shah passed away.

Besides, the Sultan still holds the record (in the Guiness Book of Records) as the world’s highest educated monarch.

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