PM told not to appoint serving judge as AG (Malaysian Insight)

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Serving Judges Must Not Be Considered Or Appointed As Attorney General, To Also Preserve The Independence Of The Judiciary(MADPET)

PM told not to appoint serving judge as AG 

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Updated 3 hours ago · Published on 26 Dec 2022 7:51PM ·

Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture co-founder Charles Hector Fernandez has said that a serving judge should never be considered for the post of attorney general in order to avoid negative public perceptions of the judiciary. – Facebook pic, December 26, 2022.

IT is best for the government to appoint a senior public officer or any other lawyer as the new attorney general (AG), an anti-death penalty group said. 

Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (Madpet) co-founder Charles Hector Fernandez said a serving judge must never be considered in order to avoid any negative public perception of the judiciary or individual judges. 

“They should remain judges until retirement,” he said in a statement. 

He added that judges who have just retired should also not be appointed as attorney general. 

“There must be a ‘cooling off period’ of at least three years before appointment, to avoid the perception of ‘rewards’ for things done whilst serving as judges,” he said. 

He said that Article 145 of the Federal Constitution stated that anyone who was qualified to be a judge of the Federal Court could be appointed as an AG. 

“It does not say a serving or retired judge must be the attorney general,” said Charles, who is also a human rights lawyer. 

“As such, it is best that a senior public officer, being a federal counsel or prosecutor from within the Attorney General’s Chambers, or any lawyer be appointed as the attorney general,” he added. 

A recent report by Free Malaysia Today said the government was considering Federal Court judges Zabidin Diah, Yaacob Sam and Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil for the post. 

The Star, meanwhile, reported that serving Court of Appeal Judge Kamaludin Md Said and High Court Judge Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh were among three candidates vying to be Idrus Harun’s replacement. 

Idrus had been ready to step down before the expiry of his contract in March to allow Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to appoint a candidate of his choice. 

The AG is appointed by the King on the advice of the PM. 

Hector also said it was time to restore confidence in Malaysian judges to reassure people that cases involving ministers, politicians, and even the government would always be treated with independence and impartially by judges. – December 26, 2022. - Malaysian Insight