PUTRAJAYA (July 28): Newly-retired chief justice (CJ) Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said judges were free to make up their own minds during her tenure.

Tengku Maimun said that the apex court had decided on 19 cases involving constitutional law while she helmed the judiciary, and out of that, she herself had sided with the minority five times.

"That's about 25% of the dissenting judgement. I think that fact alone would manifest that judges decided independently, without fear or favour, without external or internal pressure.

"Because if I had had any influence on their decisions, then surely I would not be dissenting in five out of 19 cases involving especially constitutional law," she said when met by reporters at the judges’ elevation ceremony on Monday.

Tengku Maimun was asked to comment on former chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Sebli's farewell speech last week, where he had allegedly said that he had come under pressure by a “very senior member of the judiciary” to follow a majority decision in a case. 

However, it has to be noted that Abdul Rahman had not named any specific judge in his speech and the apex court typically consists of about 15 senior judges.

Abdul Rahman, who retired last week, added that judicial independence was not only about interference by the executive, but also about a judge’s own peers in the discharge of judicial functions.

In the speech, Abdul Rahman had claimed:

“I had earlier prepared a draft judgment for the case which I then circulated to the other six panel members for their perusal, which is standard practice in the Federal Court. Not long after that, I received an email from a very senior member of the judiciary telling me how wrong my opinion was on the constitutional issue. The language used was condescending I must say, even using the word ‘hypocritical’ to describe my draft judgment. I was then only a Federal Court Judge, not the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak yet. So, I was relatively junior in comparison to the judges who put pressure on me.

“Uncomfortable as I was by the pressure, I stood by my draft judgment that the constitutional issue ought to be decided in favour of the Federal Government and not the litigant. Visibly upset by my intransigence, one of the two senior panel members was overheard whispering to the more senior panel member to ‘crack the whip’ on those of us who opposed their position on the issue. I can imagine the pain of being whipped on my backside until the rotan cracks.”

Abdul Rahman, who was also present at the ceremony on Monday, said that he was not afraid of repercussions as he was telling the truth.

"I have nothing else to say. I stick to my speech," he said when asked by the press.

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