During question time in Parliament tomorrow, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr.Mahathir Mohamad is slated to answer my question (placed as Oral Question No. 9) asking why the Attorney-General had deviated from the traditional practice of discussing with the Bar Council before announcing his proposal to amend the law in order to restructure the Bar Council and to allow Government lawyers and law lecturers to become its member and whether the Attorney-General will strive to restore good relations between both parties to maintain mutual respect and good working relationship.
It is most unfortunate that the Prime Minister took the opportunity during Question Time last Monday to launch an uncalled-for attack on the Bar Council, accusing it of tarnishing the country’s image internationally and acting like an Opposition party.
There was totally no cause for such an outburst by the Prime Minister, especially as this was in response to a supplementary question as to whether the Attorney-General’s Chambers would invite the participation of the Bar Council in the study of a recent Federal Court ruling regarding the standard of proof required of the prosecution in criminal cases.
The “bad blood” between the Bar Council and the Attorney-General’s Chambers has gone on for too long, and it is time that they should mend fences and end their adversarial relationship and to work together to promote the administration of justice as well as to uphold the important principles of the independence of the Judiciary and the Malaysian Bar.
In this connection, the Attorney-General’s Chambers should fully respect the two-point resolution passed by the extraordinary general meeting of the Malaysian Bar on Sept. 21.
The resolution declared that “The independence of the Malaysian Bar is vital to the democratic society of Malaysia, the Rule of Law and the independence of the judiciary, and is also essential to the growth of Malaysia as a leading commercial and economic entity in the region” and stated that the Malaysian Bar “strong oppose any measures to amend the Legal Profession Act 1976, that would have the effect of diluting or impairing the independence of the Malaysian Bar and or the Bar Council.”
The independence of the judiciary and Malaysian Bar are not academic questions but very important issues which will determine whether Malaysia can be a fully civil society and maintain national and international confidence to become a world class nation capable of competing in the international marketplace.
It is because the issue of the independence of the judiciary and Malaysian lawyers has become a controversal question that in the most recent interview which the Prime Minister gave to an international magazine, the Far Eastern Economic Review, this subject received considerable attention.
The Prime Minister was asked about general perceptions by foreign and local business “that they can't get justice if they are fighting local firms with powerful political connections” and their feeling that “the courts are so unfair”.
Although the Prime Minister has denied that there is any basis for such perceptions by local and foreign businessmen, the fact that such perceptions are widespread should be a matter of grave concern to the government and the country.
(20/10/96)