Asia Times: Malaysia's lawyers fight on in war with judiciary


	July 25, 2000	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Malaysia's lawyers fight on in war with judiciary
By Anil Netto

The Malaysian Bar has won an important skirmish in its battle to check what many see as an erosion in the country's system of administration of justice.

Nearly 2,000 lawyers flocked to an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of the Bar Council earlier this month and resoundingly endorsed the council's leadership in its appeals against two court decisions blocking the Bar from holding EGMs to discuss the state of the judiciary and the conduct of judges.

The endorsement will also strengthen the council's hand in tackling stifling assaults on basic freedoms in Malaysia as Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad enters his 20th year in power.

Before the July 14 meeting, analysts had wondered if the Bar could muster the one-fifth quorum needed - 1,820 lawyers out of the 9,100 membership - to hold the EGM, especially since a large number of lawyers work outside Kuala Lumpur. In the event, 1,927 lawyers turned up for the EGM, called to brief members of the Bar on the legal action taken by a lawyer to block an earlier proposed EGM on June 23 to debate whether a tribunal of inquiry should be set to probe Chief Justice Eusoff Chin's conduct.

Two days earlier, the Court of Appeal had upheld an injunction that the High Court had granted to lawyer Raja Segaran, blocking a Bar EGM slated for November 21 last year. On June 22, the High Court granted the same lawyer another injunction to stop the June 23 Bar EGM. The lawyers present on July 14 overwhelmingly endorsed the council's decision to appeal against the two court judgments, irrespective of the possibility of incurring more legal costs.

The resounding support from the lawyers was a relief for Bar Council chairman Sulaiman Abdullah. "The question of costs was discussed and at the end of the day, we have come to a conclusion that where justice and the rule of law was concerned, where the fundamental question of right and wrong was concerned, the Bar must pursue these issues undeterred by the threat of high costs awarded against us," he was quoted as saying.

Sulaiman added that the lawyers indicated that should costs become a real problem, they were willing to chip in and help raise funds.

The Bar had proposed the June 23 EGM after a minister in charge of legal affairs said that Chief Justice Eusoff Chin's socializing with a prominent lawyer was "improper".

The minister's remarks came when reporters asked him about photographs of Eusoff Chin with a prominent lawyer, V K Lingam, and their families on holiday in New Zealand that were posted on the Internet. Lingam had been representing tycoon Vincent Tan in a libel suit against well-known freelance writer M G G Pillai and two others. Pillai and the others had appealed to the Federal Court, which is headed by Eusoff Chin.

The chief justice, responding to the minister, said he merely bumped into Lingam in New Zealand - but fresh reports, scanned air tickets, and travel itineraries later posted on the Internet fuelled the perception that they had traveled together.

On July 12, the Federal Court delivered its judgment after a 30-month delay and awarded a total of 7 million ringgit (US$1.8 million) in damages to Tan. Pillai, who had been in the forefront of criticism of Eusoff, was slapped with 2 million ringgit in libel damages awarded to Tan.

Analysts have been alarmed at recent official moves that they say have undermined public confidence in the rule of law and infringed on basic civil liberties.

The draconian Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows for detention without trial, appears to be making a comeback after a brief hiatus suggested that the law was about to be mothballed. The authorities invoked the Act to detain followers of the "deviationist" Al-Ma,unah group after an arms heist from two army camps triggered a major security alert on July 3-6. Human rights workers fear that more suspected "deviationist" Muslims could be detained.

Rebutting charges that the heist and the subsequent standoff was staged, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Rais Yatim said he did not rule out the possibility of using the Sedition Act, another colonial relic, against those making the allegation.

Several prominent personalities linked to the opposition have been hauled to court in recent months under the Sedition Act and the Official Secrets Act.

But the case that has drawn widespread attention and concern is the trial of jailed former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim on a charge of sodomy. Anwar took the unusual move of making the defense's final rebuttal to the prosecution's closing submissions. "In a delivery that one observer in court described as "brilliant", Anwar maintained he was the victim of a political conspiracy to oust him from power.

The High Court is due to deliver its judgment on August 4, and already Anwar's supporters are planning to turn up in court to hear the verdict. If found guilty, he could face up to 20 years' jail, in addition to the 6-year jail term he is already serving.

Whatever the outcome of the case, it's a no-win situation for the authorities, who are likely to remain on the defensive. And analysts say public perception of the institutions of government is unlikely to improve in the near future.

(Special to Asia Times Online)

back to the top

©1999 Asia Times Online Co., Ltd.