YOURSAY ‘It is members of the public itself who will be the jury in this case.’

CJ, AG slam 'unjustified' criticism of judiciary

Negarawan : The rakyat are not blind. There have been too many instances where the handling and proceedings of court cases defies logic and common sense. Examples abound e.g. in the cases involving Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy, the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu, the ‘Allah’ row, right down to sedition.

The judiciary corruption revelations in the VK Lingam enquiry, and the racially inflammatory remarks by ex-chief justice (CJ) Abdul Hamid Mohamad, do not instil any confidence in the integrity and independence of the judiciary.

Furthermore, there has been no effort and initiative taken by the judiciary so far to address the serious conflicts and jurisdiction between the syariah and civil courts. Not only must justice be done, it must also be seen to be done.

StopMonkeying : I fully agree with the opinions expressed by Negarawan. Corrective actions are urgently and sorely needed to restore public confidence. We are neither ignorant nor fools to blindly believe in whatever judgments are handed down. Many of them are just outrageous and too obvious for the ordinary right-thinking and fair-minded rakyat to miss.

Oh Ya?: Look at the mirror and ask yourselves why should the public have any confidence in Bolehland's institutions, be they the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) or the judiciary, which have demonstrated they are the ruling elite's cohorts than anything else. Not only the righteous lawyers will judge them, the people's court of opinion will judge them likewise.

If they think they still command the public’s confidence, why not ask Merdeka Centre to conduct a survey on them?

Commentable : Unjustified criticism? Don't you mean justified criticism? As an institution that is constantly discharging a heavy duty of impartiality and conscience to society, no matter who he is, the judiciary is forever on trial itself.

It is members of the public itself who will be the jury in this case. Not the Bar Council and certainly not the government of the day. The public will know whether the judiciary has failed the people as and when it happens. There is no need to lay blame on members of the Bar.

Mr KJ John: Sir, as you know there is no smoke without a fire! Please find the source of the fire and please do not fire away either! The attorney-general (AG) is central to all problems!

Ipohcrite : Instead of slamming the critics, chief justice Arifin Zakaria should do well to understand that no amount of self-praise or chest thumping can elevate the judiciary in the eyes of the public other than by dispensing good law and justice.

And the public can be very unforgiving otherwise. And my take is that other than members of the judiciary (with exceptions of course), nobody in Malaysia really thinks highly of the judiciary.

Lamborghini : Arifin, don’t shoot the messengers but accept the message and do your duty to uphold the integrity of the judiciary by putting right things that are clearly wrong. Judges are not demigods and can be wrong and are often wrong.

Remember that you and your colleagues on the bench can freely dispense justice or injustice but there is a God Almighty that will one day judge the judges who are not just or corrupt.

In the court of public opinion, the judiciary in Malaysia has been perceived widely as not being independent and acting almost like another branch of the executive.

Peacemaker : There's nobody working harder at undermining confidence in the judiciary then the judiciary itself. By its verdicts, judgment which defy common sense and assault the ordinary man's perception of what is clearly right and wrong, the judiciary has ruined its own reputation without help from anybody.

If lawyers are attacking the judiciary, it is easy to haul them into your courts for contempt proceedings and send them off to jail for up to 12 years.

Hank Marvin : Well, there is nothing left as far as credibility and independence are concerned. The CJ and AG must realise that this is a democracy and the comments came from practising lawyers, not just anyone who knew nothing about what happened in the judiciary and AG’s Chambers.

Drngsc : Behave yourselves properly. Be just and administer justice and not just protect your rice bowl by being the mouthpiece of the executive.

Many of the judgements are laughable. DNA improperly stored, and seal broken, can still be used. Police officers who lie in court but their  testimonies are still accepted. Major crime with murders, have NO murderers, etc, etc, etc.

Please lah, CJ, be a judge for justice, not sucking up to your boss. AG, you are laughable. Both of you should resign immediately. Maybe that will help to restore a small measure of respect to the judiciary.

My Opinion : A bad judge is a bad judge. The public are not stupid. If is a good judgment, the public will praise it. This is not the 15th century AD, you know?

Old timer : If the CJ and AG have been doing their work fairly with unbiased justice, independent of government directives, and according to the constitution, they will receive praises and not criticism.

Not Smart : CJ and AG, don't just isolate “some senior lawyers” on unfair criticisms against the judiciary and the AG’s Chambers to gain sympathy. Together with the "some senior lawyers", are at least 53 percent of the rakyat who share the same views.

Today, we can see another ‘same issue’ i.e. people calling one another names such as ‘pendatang’ and ‘celaka’; provocative remarks hurled against one another, but one party gets away with it whilst others are not. Same set of laws, but applied differently for different people. What justice is this?

How shameful for not owning up to the truth and making remedies but instead sulking about ‘unfair criticisms’. No one is born perfect but all must strive for perfection, especially those in the judiciary fraternity.

Real Truth : The public perception of the Malaysian judiciary become negative the day Salleh Abbas and brother judges were unceremoniously sacked for a letter written to the then-agong. From then on, the perception of our legal system has never recovered.

Anonymous_1408265047 : You may stop the criticism but you can't stop the world-wide laughter. Having recently returned from Australia, it is fair to say the jokes about the Malaysian judiciary are downright embarrassing.

Righteous : "Judiciary comes under attack for not respecting the rule of law" does not come only from the senior lawyers. But from many, many senior citizens of this country, who can easily compare then and now.

We are no dementia sufferers, Arifin. You should line up the inspector-general of police (IGP), AG and home minister in front of a large mirror and talk to it. We are sick, very sick of kangaroos. Correct, correct, correct. Looks like me... Wasalaam.

Unspin : Only in Malaysia is the wisdom of our judges considered to be inversely proportional to their seniority. If constructive criticism is required, I suggest that we send our Court of Appeal and Federal Court judges back to law school.

Marutuk : CJ, The criticisms arise due to the lack of judicial independence. It is as simple as that!

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