Malaysia Bar walks again

The Malaysian Bar is set to walk again. This time it is a walk to safeguard judicial independence.

The walk would begin at 2 pm on July 14 from Palace of Justice to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Bar president Mohamad Ezri Abdul Wahab said a memorandum would be handed over to the PMO.

The lawyers are putting forth four demands in the memorandum.

The four are as the following:

(1) The Malaysian Bar calls upon judicial leadership positions to be filled as soon as possible by judges of impeccable character, integrity, unblemished reputation, judicial experience and acumen as measured and demonstrated by a record of quality, consistency and clarity in decision making and written judgments, and who command the respect of their peers on the Bench, at the Bar, and the Malaysian public.

(2) to reiterate our call for the immediate release of the relevant Judicial Appointments Commission meeting minutes and to call for urgent and immediate inquiries into whether or not there was interference in judicial affairs.

(3) to renew our call for the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (“RCI”) to investigate whether or not there was any interference with the Judiciary, as referred to in the speech by the former Chief Justice of Malaysia, Tun Tengku Maimun binti Tuan Mat, at the Opening of the Legal Year 2025.

(4) to expeditiously fill the numerous vacancies2 in the Judiciary, which has led to the fixing of some cases for hearing as late as 2030, resulting in significant delays in, if not a denial of, justice — a looming crisis that must be averted immediately.

The Bar had previously conducted the Walk for Judicial Independence in 2022 against the interference of executive agencies on the judiciary.