KUALA LUMPUR (June 10): With less than three weeks until July 1, Malaysia awaits whether Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat will see her tenure as the nation’s first female chief justice extended under the constitutionally mandated six months, or whether the country will see a new person helming the judiciary.

Tengku Maimun turns 66 on July 2. Similarly, her No 2, namely Court of Appeal (COA) president Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and Federal Court judge Tan Sri Nallini Pathmanathan, will reach that age on July 3 and Aug 22 respectively. They, too, have yet to receive news on whether their tenure will be extended.

It is understood that the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) had recommended the extension to their tenure several months back, but there has as yet been no feedback over this.

Many quarters, including the National Human Rights Society (Hakam) and the Malaysian Bar, have called on the Executive to extend the judges’ tenure for another six months, to ensure that they can finish their task of ensuring that proper successors would be appointed and continue the legacy of the independence of the judiciary.

The Malaysian Bar described Tengku Maimun, Abang Iskandar, and Nallini as exemplifying the critical qualities essential for appellate and apex court positions: unwavering judicial independence and integrity; upholding the Rule of Law without fear or favour; administrative competence; public credibility; and a deep commitment to constitutional principles and human rights.

Hakam president and lawyer Datuk Seri M Ramachelvam said it was rather conspicuous that the judges’ colleagues at the apex court have been accorded a customary six-month extension as allowed by the law, but there has been no word yet on the status of these specific three judges. 

“While six-month extensions under Article 125(1) of the Federal Constitution have been granted to Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Sebli, Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Hasnah Mohammed Hashim, and Federal Court judges Tan Sri Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal, Datuk Zabariah Mohamad Yusof and Datuk Hanipah Farikullah, we are gravely concerned by the conspicuous absence of similar extensions for the chief justice, PCA, and [judge] Nallini,” he said.

As stated under Article 125(1) of the Federal Constitution, a judge of the Federal Court holds office until the age of 66, with a possible extension of up to six months, subject to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s approval.

As reported in The Edge Malaysia weekly earlier this year, nine Federal Court judges out of 14 are scheduled to retire this year.

In March, the country saw a six-month extension given to Hasnah, Zabariah, and Hanipah, while another judge, Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil, chose not to extend.

Hence, that leaves Tengku Maimun, Abang Iskandar, and Nallini awaiting their fate, as the chief justice had said last month that the three had yet to receive news whether their tenure would be extended or not.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had said last month that the government was still considering whether to extend the trio’s service.

There is the possibility that the answers on whether the trio’s extension would be made clearer after a meeting of the nine-member JAC this week, a source revealed.

JAC, which was formed in 2009, functions to oversee all matters concerning the judiciary, including vetting prospective judicial commissioners and later confirming them as judges at the High Court level, and recommending the ascension of judges to the Court of Appeal and Federal Court.

It functions to select suitably qualified persons who merit appointment as judges of the superior court for the prime minister’s consideration, and make recommendations about the judiciary.

Currently, the JAC is chaired by the present chief justice — Tengku Maimun, and has Abang Iskandar, Hasnah, Zabariah, Abdul Rahman, former attorney general Tan Sri Idrus Harun, former Federal Court judge Tan Sri Zainun Ali, former Sarawak attorney general Datuk Seri Talat Mahmood Abdul Rashid, and Universiti Teknologi Mara law lecturer Professor Dr Hartini Saripan.

The commission is expected to meet later this week and whether this will be the last one chaired by Tengku Maimun remains to be seen, as the JAC meets every month.

Besides this, one other agenda will be to discuss possible successors, should Tengku Maimun, Abang Iskandar, and Nallini’s tenure not be extended.

However, this again would be subject to the go-ahead by the prime minister.

With the expected departure of the nine this year, the next echelon of apex court judges would likely take the helm and lead the judiciary in the coming months.

Besides Nallini (if her tenure is extended until early next year), the other judges at the apex court are Datuk Rhodzhariah Bujang, 64, Datuk Abu Bakar Jais, 63, Datuk Nordin Hassan, 62, Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera, 63, former attorney general Tan Sri Ahmad Teriruddin Mohd Salleh, 57, and newly appointed Datuk Lee Swee Seng, 65.

The public, lawyers, and judges are expected to closely monitor this development.

Of particular interest will be Anwar’s filing of eight referral questions last month, on whether the Prime Minister’s Office warranted immunity from civil suits.

This follows the application filed by Anwar in replacing his previous solicitors, and having sought a postponement in his former research officer Muhammed Yusoff Rawther’s civil suit, which was scheduled for hearing this month.

High Court judge Roz Mawar Rozain had dismissed the referral last week, ruling that the referral questions had not passed the threshold for them to be referred to the apex court, as the questions are deemed speculative, and she dismissed a stay of the hearing.

However, the appellate court on Tuesday (June 10) granted an interim stay of Yusoff’s suit, pending the full hearing of the stay next month. If this case goes to the apex court, it could possibly be newly appointed judges who would preside over the referral hearing, and decide on the matter.

In the judicial system, the chief justice decides which judges would sit on which panels at the Federal Court, while the COA president decides who would listen to cases at the COA.

Read also:
CJ Tengku Maimun says she, Abang Iskandar and Nallini yet to receive retirement extension offers
Extend Tengku Maimun, Abang Iskandar and Nallini's tenures, human rights society urges govt
Opinion: Judicial extensions, promotions and appointments: The nation await
Court: Imminent retirement of nine apex court judges to create significant vacuum