CONGRATS TO DZAIDDIN

KLSE Bhd, the holding company of the demutualised local stock exchange, has appointed Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah as chairman (Star 13/1/2004). I must congratulate the former Chief Justice on this appointment to this regulatory body, and I believe that such positions are definitely more suitable positions that a former Chief Justice and/or judge should take after retirement.

In my opinion it is definitely not right for a judge, and more so a Chief Justice, to join a a private company and/or a law firm soon after he retires as it most definitely affects public perception of the independence of the judiciary, and invites all kinds of unnecessary speculations about our judiciary.

Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah, I am sure, did not abuse his power when he was occupying his position as Chief Justice and/or use his influence amongst the judges after he retired in favour of the law firm that he subsequently joined as consultant after his retirement. But, as I mentioned before it is not only the independence of the judiciary that is important, but so too is the public perception of this independence. Justice must not only be done but also seen to be done, and likewise the Malaysian judiciary must not only be independent but must also be perceived to be independent.

I reiterate the position made by the Bar Council, in that there must be a reasonable “cooling-off” period from the date of retirement of judges and the date they get back into practice, join legal firms and/or join any private company and/or corporation.

Considering the Judges’ salaries and allowances when they are sitting judges, and considering their pensions they receive when they retire, I have discovered that there is a big drop in the amount of money that they receive from their pensions. While occupying office, judges receive a lot of benefits and allowances but most of these apparently disappear when they retire.

This is something that needs to be reviewed seriously, for I believe that the amount that they receive on retirement should remain the same or drop a mere 20% (and not more) so that a judge will be able to enjoy and maintain a life-styles similar to when they were sitting judges.

Judges sacrifice a lot when they accept the office of Judge, and to ensure the independence of the Judiciary and also the public perception of this independence is maintained, there must be serious review not only of a judge’s pensions, but also their present salaries which is really not that high.

Likewise the Judicial and Legal Services must be separated, and higher remunerations should be given to Session Court Judges, Magistrates, Registrars and also Industrial Court Judges.

Charles Hector

14 January 2004