De facto Law Minister, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has just confirmed that the appointment of the next Chief Justice will not be affected by any judicial reform currently in the pipeline.
I posed this question during the winding-up of the debate on the Judges’ Remuneration (Amendment) Bill 2008.
The Chief Justice, Tun Abdul Hamid will retire on 18th October 2008.
I pointed out that as it does not appear that the much-hyped judicial reform, including the establishment of a Judicial Appoinments Commission, will be presented to Parliament before October although Zaid had earlier promised that the legislative proposals would be presented in the current meeting of Parliament, the appointment of the next Chief Justice will be by the present process.
When Zaid agreed, I remarked that the country seems set to have the first UMNO Chief Justice in the nation’s history.
I had earlier expressed my concern that the government is back-tracking on its promise of judicial reforms.