In reply to the question whether he should have declined re-appointment as Chief Justice under circumstances where the weight of legal and informed opinion are quite united in regarding it as unconstitutional, Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif said the issue does not arise.

He said: “Why should I decline? Because the government is of the view that the government needs our services…so they went through the process.”

Raus cannot be more wrong, as he knows that his claim that his re-appointment as Chief Justice is constitutional though unprecedented is open to challenge.

A chief justice of a country should not act like a “cantakerous litigant” arguing over every possible point of law, however far-fetched or ridiculous. Read the rest of this entry »