BOMBSHELL
To mollify growing public criticisms over the vacancies, the Anwar government moved to make temporary appointments.
In a move that retired judges and lawyers noted was unprecedented in Malaysia’s judicial history, the judiciary’s third-most senior jurist, Hasnah Mohamed Hashim, who is the Chief Judge of Malaya, was appointed to assume the role of Chief Justice in an acting capacity until the position is filled.
In rapid succession, the Registrar of the Federal Court said that Federal Court judge Zabariah Yusof has been appointed acting President of the Court of Appeal until the position is filled permanently.
But these moves did not help quell the increasingly noisy public dust-up over the government’s alleged interference mainly because of speculation over a sharp divide among JAC members with regards to Terrirudin’s conduct as a judge and allegations of misconduct that were discussed during the mid-May meeting.
Then came an unexpected bombshell landing last Saturday, when purported screenshots of selected pages from the confidential minutes of the May 16 JAC meeting were anonymously dumped on social media platform Reddit before quickly spreading like wildfire on other sites popular among Malaysia’s hyper-active Internet community.
The leak has put the government on the defensive.
Information Minister Fahmi Fadzil stated that the alleged leaked JAC minutes could have legal implications, including breaches under the country’s Officials Secrets Act, if the authorities confirmed its authenticity.
Lawyers close to the situation told CNA that details contained in the alleged leaked documents offered an accurate construction of events that they have been receiving from other sources in the legal fraternity, including judges.
According to the lawyers, the JAC meeting on May 16, was among other things, convened to discuss the nomination for the position of the Chief Judge of the High Court of Malaysia.
There was already wide consensus in the legal fraternity that Hasnah and Zabariah would take over from Tengku Maimun and Abang Iskandar respectively, based on the typically applied considerations of seniority and merit.
The crucial vacancy to be filled was the Chief Judge for the High Court of Malaya, the third most senior position in the judiciary.
Zabariah turned 66 in April and following her six-month extension, she will retire in October. Hasnah, meanwhile, turned 66 on Tuesday and will retire later this year.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/malaysia-judiciary-crisis-judges-political-test-anwar-conference-rulers-5239486
