Retired judges can appear in court in exceptional cases if the Bar is weak, said former Federal Court judge Datuk Seri Gopal Seri Ram in a stinging rebuttal to the Bar Council.
Sri Ram said retired judges who had experience and expertise could contribute to the development of the law adding that this was more glaring when the Bar is weak and the Bench need assistance.
He was commenting on a statement issued by the Bar Council which stated that former judges appearing in court as counsel could lead to embarrassing situations when some of them may have to cite from their own judgments.
Council president Christopher Leong had said that judicial procedures should be amended to stop ex-judges from becoming counsel.
Sri Ram, however, said there may be public interest cases where the input of retired judges (who appear for their clients) would be invaluable.
The recent amendment to the Kedah Mufti and Fatwa Enactment (2008) barring all fatwas (edicts) from being challenged in court is unconstitutional, the Malaysian Bar said today.
Bar Council president Lim Chee Wee today said the amendment “purports to oust the jurisdiction of the Courts”, which goes against the Federal Constitution.
“Article 121 of the Federal Constitution does not confer upon any state legislative assembly the legislative power to enact laws that exclude the jurisdiction of the Courts,” Lim said today in a press statement, adding the amendment “also goes against the doctrine of separation of powers”.
“In a modern democratic framework, each of the three main branches of government has its respective role,” he explained.
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 2 — In a race against time, Perak’s Pakatan Rakyat (PR) faction will be rushing to the Ipoh magistrate’s court at 8am today to set aside another court order barring the public from going near the state secretariat building, ahead of its scheduled assembly sitting at 10am.
Ousted Perak speaker, V. Sivakumar who fears interference from the state secretary, says he is committed to holding an assembly sitting inside the state secretariat building in Ipoh tomorrow.
“I'll go ahead with it,” he told The Malaysian Insider over the phone this evening.
Sivakumar had failed in his bid to get the Ipoh High Court to issue a restraining order against Datuk Abdul Rahman Hashim earlier this afternoon.
According to PR’s calculations, the assembly must sit tomorrow or be automatically dissolved. Perak’s Constitution provides for only a six-month gap between sittings.
Sensing trouble, state police chief, Datuk Pahlawan Zulkifli Abdullah, succeeded in getting a court order under Section 98 of the Criminal Procedure Code to block anyone from going within 30 metres of the fence encircling the state government headquarters at Ipoh’s Jalan Panglima Bukit Gantang Wahab from 1am today until 11pm tomorrow.
He said the police had obtained a court order under Section 98 of the Criminal Procedure Code to prohibit anyone from attending the ‘sitting’ or being within a 30-metre radius from the building, beginning 1am on Sept 2 till 11pm, the following day.
“The police have been informed by the state government that there is no state assembly sitting scheduled for Sept 2,” he said in a statement here today. Zulkfili said the matter had also been verified by Perak State Assembly Speaker Datuk R. Ganesan.
“The order seems to prohibit supporters from gathering but not elected reps,” ousted DAP state executive councillor Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham told The Malaysian Insider last night when contacted.
“This should rightly be so as Article 72 of the Federal Constitution prohibits courts from interfering with the affairs of the Legislature,” he added.
But Ngeh lashed out at the police force for the public institution’s seemingly all-too speedy action in kow-towing to BN.
The Perak DAP chief expects the police to stop PR assembly members from going into the state secretariat.
And he pointed out that anyone who blocks a lawmaker from carrying out his duties can be jailed up to seven years under Section 124 of the Penal Code.
The previous Perak Assembly Speaker Sivakumar were forcefully stripped from his robe and manhandlled to vacate the Assembly Speaker seat.
New Perak Speaker R. Ganesan stands accused of holding another job besides being the Speaker of the state assembly. Another battle is raging over Datuk R. Ganesan’s validity as the Perak Speaker, with Pakatan Rakyat leaders here claiming he should be disqualified for holding two jobs — as Speaker and as a lawyer.Ganesan has, however, denied this and claims he had stopped his practice since his appointment during the chaotic May 7 state assembly sitting. The Bar Council has clarified that Perak Speaker Datuk R Ganesan had only filed a notice of cessation of practice as a lawyer on August 17, ten days after a statutory deadline for him to do so expired.A letter to the Bar Council which was received on August 17 was however dated August 6.
The actual “Notice of Cessation of Practice as an Advocate and Solicitor” was only field on August 17, as was an accompanying statutory declaration.
Last week, former mentri besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin revealed that the former Sungkai assemblyman had infringed Article 36A of the Perak Constitution by failing to relinquish his job as a lawyer within three months of his appointment.
Bar Council secretary George Varughese said in a statement today the Bar Council had acknowledged receipt of Ganesan’s letter dated August 6.
But he pointed out that the “Notice of Cessation” was dated August 17.
In the statement, Varughese said Ganesan had faxed a letter to the Bar Council on August 13, six days after the deadline expired, claiming that he had ceased being a lawyer on August 6.
But the notice of cessation remained dated August 17, ten days after the legal deadline.
The Bar Council statement appears to back Perak PR lawmakers in their argument that Ganesan had breached the state constitution and could no longer be Speaker.
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Police Entered the Perak State Legislative Assembly and Forcefully Removed Speaker Sivakumar from his Chair and Dragged out of the Hall
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Perak state assembly meeting 7 may 2009 many pkr supporter arrested
