A senior lawyer has commended the Conference of Rulers’ “wise” decision to appoint Court of Appeal judge Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh as the new chief justice, saying it has saved the country from another judicial crisis.

According to Haniff Khatri Abdullah, the move to elevate Wan Ahmad Farid (above) thwarted a purported plan by the executive to promote another judge, who has far less experience and was recently implicated in an alleged judicial interference scandal...