Malaysia needs courageous, fair-minded judges: Sultan Nazrin

KUALA LUMPUR: The country, more than ever, needs judges who are courageous and fair-minded to instil public confidence in the judicial system.
Sultan Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah, in acknowledging that Malaysia currently lives in a testing time, said it is crucial that the public's regard for the judiciary should be at its highest and clearest.
"We live in challenging times, in which our institutions sometimes seem to be under threat.
"More than ever, we need courageous and fair-minded judges to instil confidence that the judicial system remains sacrosanct in guarding the rights, interests and liberty of all," he said.
Sultan Nazrin stressed that judges are not there simply to decide cases, but to decide them as they think the cases should be decided in the true spirit of justice and fairness.
"Doing the right thing is therefore incumbent on all judges. In fact, it is their supreme duty," he said at the launch of Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria's, book Justice Above All: Selected Judgements of Tun Arifin Zakaria With Commentaries.
Sultan Nazrin quoting his father Sultan Azlan Shah, who was also a former Chief Justice, reminded that the rules concerning judiciary independence are designed to guarantee that they are free from extraneous pressures and independent of all authority save that of the law.
Sultan Nazrin added that while there is undoubtedly value in unanimous opinions, it was also critical that judges speak in dissent where necessary.
"Some judges may hold strong legal and moral convictions, yet fail to articulate their concerns in their judgements," he said.
Sultan Nazrin, in launching the book, also commended Arifin for his contributions as a Chief Justice to the country, believing that the latter's place in history was assured.
The Justice Above All book contains some of Arifin's more prominent and outstanding judgements on a diverse range of issues, each accompanied by commentaries by eminent lawyers.
Arifin, who took office on Sept 12, 2011 as the 13th Chief Justice, will step down on March 31 this year.