Rightways: justice

Showing posts with label justice. Show all posts

Thursday, December 15, 2022

Malaysian judicial appointments need reforms

All for equal justice: Tuanku Muhriz (right) holding a copy of the ‘Upholding The Federal Constitution: The Judicial Thoughts of Datuk Seri Hishamudin Yunus’ with the author Hishamudin at the book launch. — AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: A more diverse and independent mechanism can be introduced when it comes to the selection of the five eminent members of the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC), says the Yang di-Pertuan Besar Negri Sembilan.

Tuanku Muhriz Ibni Almarhum Tuanku Munawir said the persons selected must not only be independent from any form of political influence, but also be inclusive, reflecting the diversity of our multi-racial society and the composition of the Federation, namely the Peninsular Malaysia states, Sabah, and Sarawak.

“The inclusion of members from diverse and independent backgrounds will allow more stakeholders to be represented, thus broadening the expertise in the judicial appointment process whilst maintaining the commission’s independence,” he said in his royal address at the official launch of Upholding The Federal Constitution: The Judicial Thoughts Of Datuk Seri Hishamudin Yunus here yesterday.

Also present at the event was Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat

The Negri Sembilan Ruler also reminded the audience of his recent address as the Chairman of the 260th Ruler’s Conference, where he emphasised the need to reform the existing judicial appointment process.

Tuanku Muhriz said while the main intention of the commission is to uphold the independence of the judiciary, it appears that its governing provisions may not be in accordance with such intent.

“As it stands, the prime minister appoints five of the nine members of the JAC.

“Under the Constitution, he also has the final say in the appointment of judges to the superior courts.

“We need to be guided by the principle of separation of powers of the Executive, the legislature and the judiciary.

“To achieve this, some reforms need to be considered to strengthen the independence of the commission, and ultimately, the judiciary.

“We could introduce diverse and independent mechanisms when it comes to the selection of the five eminent persons on the commission,” he said, adding that he had also been advised that it is equally important for the Judicial Appointments Commission Act 2009 to be made part of the Constitution, and not remain as an Act of Parliament.

“I urge civil society and other stakeholders to take the lead for meaningful discussions to be taken to achieve this aspiration of judicial independence as a means to uphold the Constitution, the supreme law of the land.

“Lest we forget, the rakyat go to court to seek and obtain justice.

“Be it a criminal appeal, an appeal against the decision of the government or one of its agencies, or a private matter, the public sees the courts as their avenue to seek justice,” said His Royal Highness.

“It is no surprise that the recent political developments in Malaysia have led to many discourses on the Constitution.

“Matters pertaining to governance of the nation require us to consult and be guided by the Constitution,” he said.

“Our courts have observed that the Constitution is not a mere collection of pious platitudes.

“It is the supreme law of the land embodying three basic concepts, one of them is that the individual has certain fundamental rights upon which not even the power of the state may encroach.

“In this regard, the judiciary has a constitutional role to perform as they are the guardians of the Constitution,” he said.

On the book launch, he applauded Hishamudin, a former Court of Appeal judge, whom he described as someone who has “given his life to many provisions in the Constitution, especially those 10 relating to fundamental rights”.

“His years on the Bench are remembered for his integrity and independence, which paved his unwavering commitment to uphold the supremacy and sanctity of the Constitution,” said Tuanku Muhriz.

He added that Hishamudin’s decisions, including his many significant dissenting judgments are based on his appreciation of the law, where he had elegantly embraced the ever-evolving common law principles and applied them judiciously with the sole aim of delivering justice without fear or favour.

Currently an arbitrator at the KL Regional Centre for Arbitration, Hishamudin, 73, is a law graduate from the University of London who previously served as the Malaysian Court of Appeal Judge, Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Senior Federal Counsel, and the President of the Sessions Court.

With 45 years of legal experience, he has written more than 750 judgments in his illustrious career.

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Saturday, September 24, 2016

Canny Ong murder case remember? Killer Ahmad Najib finally hanged at Kajang prison

Ahmad Najib Aris (center). - Filepic

PETALING JAYA: After spending 11 years on death row and having exhausted all his appeals, Ahmad Najib Aris (pic) was finally executed for the 2003 murder of Canny Ong.

The former aircraft cabin cleaning supervisor, who killed Ong after abducting her from a shopping complex in Bangsar, was hanged early yesterday.

A Kajang prison spokesman said Ahmad Najib, 40, was executed at about 6am and his body was later buried at the Sungai Kantan Muslim cemetery in Kajang.

He said Ahmad Najib was allowed to meet his family members for the last time on Thursday.

Ahmad Najib’s former lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla described him as a “good Muslim” while in jail.

He said prison officials had told him that Ahmad Najib became a good Muslim, and often led prayers in jail and also taught other inmates about religion.

“To me, at least the time he was in prison, he was a better person than many outside,” he told The Star.

Ahmad Najib was sentenced to death by the Shah Alam High Court on Feb 23, 2005, for murdering Ong, then 28, at the 11th kilometre of Jalan Klang Lama between 1am and 5am on June 14, 2003.

He was also given the maximum jail term of 20 years and ordered to be given 10 strokes of the rotan for raping Ong.

In March 2009, the Federal Court upheld his death sentence for the crimes committed against Ong, whose charred remains were found in a manhole near a highway construction site.

Ong, an IT-analyst living in the United States with her husband Brandon Ong, was back in Malaysia to visit her ailing father.

On June 13, 2003, a day before she was due to return to the United States, Ong went out for dinner with some family members and close friends at the Bangsar Shopping Complex.

After the meal, she went to the basement car park to retrieve the parking ticket from her car. She asked her mother and sister to wait for her by the autopay machine.

Ong never returned.

After waiting for 20 minutes, Ong’s mother Pearly Visvanathan Ong and her sister decided to look for her in the car park.

When they went down they found the car, a purple Proton Tiara, missing.

Sensing something bad had happened to her daughter, Pearly ran to the mall’s security office to view the CCTV tapes.

The tapes confirmed their worst fears. They saw Ong being abducted by a man who drove off with her in her car, crashing past the exit barrier of the car park.

Days later, Ong’s charred remains were found in a manhole along Old Klang Road in Kuala Lumpur.

Forensic and criminal investigators found evidence that led to the arrest of Ahmad Najib.

The news of Ong’s murder was covered widely by the media and followed intently by the public.

The randomness of the crime – Ahmad Najib had no apparent motive – made it all the more horrific and prompted many unsolicited and baseless conspiracy theories much to the dismay of Ong’s loved ones.

by Jastin Ahmad Tarmizi The Star/Asia News Network

Related post:

Canny Ong's murderer hanged

A need to invest in security

Jul 13, 2012 ... ... of probably the most-publicised case of car park abduction and assault in the country. ... Canny Ong, after being abducted in Bangsar, was raped, murdered ..... Moneylender gunned down in broad daylight in Kuala Lumpur.

Monday, July 18, 2016

China hardens after illegal tribunal ruling on South China Sea

In ignoring the verdict on the South China Sea, Beijing is following precedents by great powers as no permanent member of the UN Security Council has ever complied with a ruling by the Arbitral Tribunal on an issue involving the Law of the Sea.

Arbitration award

CHINA’S resolve on its sovereign claim to most of the South China Sea appears to harden after an international tribunal ruled against this new superpower in Asia.

On Tuesday, the international arbitratry at the Hague backed the Philippines’ argument that there was no legal basis for Beijing’s maritime claims.

The tribunal dismissed China’s vast claims in the vital waters, known to have vast oil and gas deposits.

From the start, China has insisted that it will ignore the tribunal decision.

It has also warned that increasing pressure on the issue could turn the resource-rich waters into a “cradle of war”.

Three days following the tribunal’s ruling, China’s state media reported that China may build mobile nuclear power plants in the South China Sea.

“China will soon start assembling its first maritime nuclear power platform and is expected to build 20 floating nuclear power stations in the future, which will largely beef up the power and water supplies on the South China Sea islands,” reported Global Times on Friday, citing China National Nuclear Cooperation (CNNC). (http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/994578.shtml)

The state-owned Global Times added that “marine nuclear power platforms will be used” in the islands and reefs of the Spratly chain in the internationally contested sea.

And two days before the tribunal announcement, China had enhanced its military presence under the directive of President Xi Jinping.

Meanwhile, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that Tokyo should stop “hyping up and interfering” in the South China Sea issue, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Li: Tokyo must respect China's territorial sovereignty

https://youtu.be/HMP0a_ODVGU

Japan is not a state directly involved in the South China Sea issue, and thus should “exercise caution in its own words and deeds, and stop hyping up and interfering” in the issue, said Li.

Commenting on the decision of the tribunal in Hong Kong on Friday, a judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said the award on the South China Sea arbitration had the effect of “pouring fuel on the flame”.

Xue Hanqin, while addressing a colloquium in Hong Kong, said: “Anyone can easily tell that this award will certainly aggregate the dispute between China and the Philippines, aggregate the current military tension between China and the US and definitely aggregate tension in the region.”

Indeed, countries in this region are keeping a close watch on the situation – paying particular attention to the actions of the United States, Japan and China.

The ruling of the tribunal – the legality and decision which has been questioned by academics from the East and West, has indeed caused an unprecedented level of tension in this part of the world since the Second World War.

This is despite the repeated assurance by China that it still prefers to resolve the disputes in the South China Sea via consultation and peaceful talks among the parties laying claims to the islands – which include Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan.

To many analysts, the United States and Japan cannot turn away from the responsibility of instilling instability as both have in recent years provoked disputes with Beijing and challenged China’s sovereign claims to the South China Sea waters.

Indeed, China’s stand on not recognising the tribunal’s decision has won resounding support from commentators who know the history of the region.

China’s sovereignty over the islands and reefs in the South China Sea has been established in the course of history.

Until the 1930s, the United States had never regarded the South China Sea as part of the territory of the Philippines, according to professor of Political Science Peter Li of the University of Houston.

Li sees the tribunal’s award as “null and void”.

China’s rejection of and non-participation in the arbitration proceedings are in compliance with UNCLOS, which, adopted in the early 1980s, was not designed to settle territorial disputes.

Hence, arbitration over matters concerning the delineation of maritime boundaries is beyond the scope of the convention, Li opined.

The impartiality of the tribunal, headed by a Japanese, has also been questioned as it was biased from the start three years ago, he added.

https://youtu.be/yeXCM7WcFxo

https://youtu.be/xBt7QizIAGg

The professor blamed the award for “putting regional peace at risk” as it will encourage other parties to the dispute to seek a similar approach to buttress their claims to the South China Sea.

“A worse scenario is that countries from outside the region (the US) shall impose themselves on the region, thus making a peaceful resolution of the dispute even more remote.”

And according to The Diplomat, in ignoring the verdict on the South China Sea, Beijing is following precedents by great powers as no permanent member of the UN Security Council has ever complied with a ruling by the Tribunal on an issue involving the Law of the Sea.

Graham Allison, director of Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, noted in his writing: “In fact, none of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council have ever accepted any international court’s ruling when (in their view) it infringed their sovereignty or national security interests. Thus, when China rejects the tribunal’s decision in this case, it will be doing just what the other great powers have repeatedly done.”

Amid all the tension, what is important is that China has issued a long white paper that essentially reiterates its aspiration to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea.

China issues white paper on SCS; Arbitral court not an UN agency, unjust and questionable judges...

The United States and Britain have criticised Beijing on this issue, but they had forgotten the precedents they have set.

In the 1980s when Nicaragua sued Washington for mining its harbours, the United States argued that the ICJ did not have the authority to hear Nicaragua’s case.

When the court ruled in favour of Nicaragua and ordered the United States to pay reparations, the United States refused, and vetoed six UN Security Council resolutions ordering it to comply with the court’s ruling, according to The Diplomat.

Just last year the tribunal ruled that Britain had violated the Law of the Sea by unilaterally establishing a Marine Protected Area in the Chagos Islands. The British government disregarded the ruling, and remains in the Marine Protected Area.

In its commentary on Friday, Xinhua said the South China Sea arbitration “is just a start key for the United States having ulterior motives to agitate the South China Sea situation to reinforce its hegemony”.

PCA clarifies role, double standards in South China Sea arbitration profane international law

“The superpower has always been trying to turn the western Pacific Ocean into its own sphere of influence, dreaming to turn the South China Sea into the Caribbean where its warships patrol at will.”

To increase its dominance in the Asia-Pacific region in the face of China’s growing economy and increasing influence, the United States has since 2009 began a rebalancing strategy to the Asia Pacific to contain China’s rise, exerts Xinhua.

The South China Sea arbitration is another plot hatched by the US government, as Alberto Encomienda, former secretary-general of Maritime and Ocean Affairs Center of the Philippine Foreign Affairs Department, had said the United States has instigated his country to initiate the arbitration.

But to the credit of the Philippines, its government under a newly elected president is adopting a softer and conciliatory line towards China as it calls for more economic cooperation with Beijing.

This floats the prospects of cutting down conflict in future.

Amid all the tension, what is important is that China has issued a long white paper that essentially reiterates its aspiration to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, jointly with Asean member countries.

By Ho Wah Foon The Star/Asia News Network

Related:

Arbitration: More questions than answers

On July 12th, an arbitral tribunal in The Hague made an award in the South China Sea territorial dispute case filed by the Philippines. The tribunal itself and its subsequent award, have many points which have raised more questions than answers.

https://youtu.be/xBt7QizIAGg

Arbitration and award questionable

An award was made earlier this month over the South China Sea territorial dispute by The Hague-based arbitral tribunal consisting of five arbitrators.

https://youtu.be/yeXCM7WcFxo

China, the Philippines reached consensus on disputes

China has just released a white paper which reiterates the country's position on resolving territorial disputes in the South China Sea through dialogue and negotiation. According to the white paper, China and the Philippines reached consensus in the past on resolving the relevant disputes that way.

https://youtu.be/PvKQ5irjOFs

Related posts:

PCA clarifies role, double standards in South China Sea arbitration profane international law

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国际法院（ICJ）在此希望媒体和公众注意，南海仲裁案（菲律宾共和国与中华人民共和国）裁决结果由常设仲裁法院(PCA)提供秘书服务下的一个特别仲裁庭做出。相关信息请访问PCA网站（ www.pca-cpa.org ）。国际法院作为完全不同的另一机构，至始至终未曾参与该案...

China issues white paper on SCS; Arbitral court not an UN agency, unjust and questionable judges...

China issues white paper on settling disputes with Philippines in South China Sea China is committed to upholding int'l rule of ...

不合法的裁决不过废纸一张, Illegal ruling but a waste paper

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Monday, September 28, 2015

Urgent to tell the truth !

THE greatest tribute that Malaysians can pay to the memory of Kevin Morais and others like him who had sacrificed their lives fighting against the abuse of power is to protect and strengthen those institutions tasked with ensuring that integrity and good governance define our identity as a nation.

Each and every one of those institutions – from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to Bank Negara – is under some sort of stress and strain today. Fulfilling their amanah (trust) – doing what they are required to do by law and convention – has become a major challenge. Why are they in such a situation today?

One, we continue to be burdened with a neo-feudal psychology which accords precedence to unquestioning loyalty to a leader, however wrong he may be, over allegiance to values, principles and institutions associated with integrity. The neo-feudal leader himself expects such blind loyalty and cultivates it assiduously through material rewards and allurements.

Two, in a society where communal consciousness is pervasive there is always a tendency among a significant segment of society to demonstrate fidelity to communal identities, institutions and personalities. Such fidelity often results in the subordination of values such as integrity and honesty.

Three, when loyalty to communal identity becomes obsessive, it is not difficult to whip up fear and hatred of the other to a point where collective fear overwhelms concern for integrity or righteousness. The manipulation of fear, by no means confined to ethnic and religious sentiments, is sometimes a tool that elites employ in order to perpetuate their power.

Four, when a party has been dominant for a long while – as the Barisan Nasional was until 2008 – and has not been held in check by a culture of accountability and transparency, it develops a mindset that is dismissive of anything that questions its exercise of power. Integrity is often the victim of such a mindset.

Five, a major episode in the life of a nation that devastates the integrity of a vital institution of governance can weaken the principle and practice of amanah in society as a whole for decades to come. This is what happened in Malaysia in 1988 when the head of the Judiciary was removed on flimsy, fabricated charges and senior judges dismissed.

For all these reasons, institutions which are expected to preserve and protect values and principles such as truth, justice, integrity and honesty have not been able to function as well as they should. The investigations into 1MDB and the RM2.6bil in the Prime Minister’s personal bank account which have been hampered and hindered by various moves and manoeuvres underscore this.

In more concrete terms, the PAC has been immobilised. There is still no action on the report submitted by Bank Negara to the Attorney-General which called for enforcement. There has been very little progress in apprehending key individuals wanted in both the 1MDB and RM2.6bil investigations.

The Prime Minister has yet to sue the Wall Street Journal for alleging financial improprieties on his part. Those who are concerned about integrity in public life are understandably disillusioned about the whole situation. This may explain why some of them may have sought external avenues to address the malaise.

There is no doubt at all that foreign actors who are focusing upon the current controversies in Malaysia have their own agendas. Given the orientation of the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Washington Post, one is not surprised that they are exploiting the controversies to achieve their own goals which may include regime change in Putrajaya – a possibility which I had alluded to in an article on Feb 17.

Apart from Prime Minister Najib Razak’s explicit support for Hamas which has incensed Israel and its backers in the United States, it is also quite conceivable that Malaysia’s military cooperation with China reflected in the four-day joint naval exercise between the two nations in the strategic Straits of Malacca from Sept 18 – the biggest that China has conducted with any Asean state – has upset some circles in Washington DC.

It has also been argued that the targeting of Najib in the US media may be part of the attempt to ensure that Malaysia signs up to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement.

Whatever the motives, it is obvious that the Malaysian Government’s acts of commission and omission on 1MDB and the RM2.6bil account have provided foreign manipulators with a lot of ammunition to hit Najib.

This is why it is extremely urgent to tell the whole truth. The yet to be completed report of the Auditor-General which would be the basis for the reconstituted PAC to finish its work, and the finalisation of the MACC’s investigations, together with Bank Negara’s report which is with the Attorney-General, should reveal the truth about 1MDB and the RM2.6bil account. Foreign investigations may also help.

The Malaysian people should send a clear message to our Government. The investigations into the two related controversies should be closed and the whole truth should be made known to the nation and the world by the end of this year.

To allow the controversies to drag on into 2016 will only bring our nation to the edge of the precipice.

DR CHANDRA MUZAFFAR Kuala Lumpur

(Dr Chandra Muzaffar has been writing and speaking on integrity in public life since the nineteen seventies.)

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