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Judges promoted
on merit, says CJ
PUTRAJAYA: Three Federal Court and five
Court of Appeal judges were sworn in at the
Palace of Justice yesterday.
The three Federal Court judges are Datuk
Gopal Sri Ram, Datuk Wira Mohd Ghazali Mohd
Yusoff and Datuk James Foong Cheng Yuen.
The Court of Appeal judges are Datuk Mohd
Hishamudin Mohd Yunus, Datuk Ramly Ali,
Datuk Kang Hwee Gee, Datuk Jeffry Tan Kok
Wha and Datuk Azhar @ Izhar Ma’ah.
They received their letters of appointment
from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan
Zainal Abidin, at Istana Negara in Kuala Lumpur
earlier.
Present were Chief Justice of the Federal
Court Tan Sri Zaki Tun Azmi, Court of Appeal
President Tan Sri Alauddin Mohd Sheriff, Chief
Judge of Malaya Datuk Arifin Zakaria and
Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail.
Zaki said at the swearing-in ceremony the
promotion of the eight judges was based on merit
to meet the highest standards in the judiciary.
He said the judges should be proud to have
been chosen to fill the vacancies based on their
merit, “which was necessary to improve the
respect given to the courts”.
“Parties want to be fairly heard. Our trust is
put in you to maintain public confidence. Hav-
ing said that, the expectations of the citizens and
our clients are very high, as well as, they want
speedy and efficient disposal of the cases,” he
said.
Zaki said that with the appointments of the
two levels of appellate courts, it was hoped
that efficiency would continue
to improve and there would be
speedier disposal of appeals.
Until last Thursday, the Court
of Appeal had disposed of 987
civil cases simply on the grounds
that the appellants were not inter-
ested to proceed with the appeals,
without counting all the other
fully-heard judgments, he said.
“To this, I must say thank you
to Datuk Gopal Sri Ram, Datuk
Raus Md Sharif and Datuk Sulong
Matjeraie. I know you are working
hard to dispose the cases,” he said,
adding that the judiciary had also
worked closely with the Malaysian
Bar Council to improve and to expe-
dite the disposal of cases.
Sri Ram, who has served for 15 years in the
Court of Appeal, and Mohd Ghazali, 63, and
Foong, 63, were sworn in as Federal Court
judges before Zaki.
Sri Ram, 65, has the distinction of being the
first lawyer in private practice to be appointed
straight to the Court of Appeal when it was set
up in 1994.
He never served as a judicial commissioner
nor a High Court judge.
He will turn 66 on Aug 16, the retirement age
for judges, but the Federal Constitution allows
for a six-month extension.
Sri Ram, when approached by reporters, said
“a judge never gives comments (press confer-
From left ... Sri Ram (Federal Court), Mohd Hishamudin
(Court of Appeal), Wira Mohd Ghazali (Federal Court),
Azhar (Court of Appeal), Foong (Federal Court) and Zaki.
The new appointees were sworn in at the Palace of
Justice yesterday.
ence). Ask the chief justice”.
Mohd Ghazali, a former solicitor-general,
was made a High Court judge in 1995 and
was elevated to the Court of Appeal in 2002.
Foong, also a lawyer in private practice,
was made a High Court judge in 1990 and
promoted to the Court of Appeal in 2005.
With the elevation of the three, the Federal
Court now has the maximum 12-member
bench.
Mohd Hishamudin, 59, Ramly, 56, Kang,
64, Tan, 59, and Azhar, 63, were sworn in as
Court of Appeal judges before Alauddin.
With the appointments, the Court of Ap-
peal has 22 judges.
Bar Council president Ragunath Kesavan,
asked by reporters to comment on the ap-
Woman claims
trial over
blog post
by Bernard Cheah
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
SEBERANG PERAI: A 27-year-old business-
woman from Permatang Pauh claimed trial in
the sessions court here yesterday, to posting
offensive comments against the Sultan of Perak
on the internet.
Khoo Hui Shuang was charged with distrib-
uting the offensive comments jointly with her
husband, Chan Hon Keong, 26, at about 12.05am
on Feb 13.
She allegedly committed the offence at 5,
Lorong Arowana Emas 2, Taman Arowana Emas
in Bukit Mertajam.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Radhi Abas
asked the court to impose bail of RM10,000
as it was a serious charge involving the royal
institution.
Counsel Jagdeep Singh Deo appealed to the
court to impose a lower bail because he feared
the family would not have sufficient money as
Chan, who was charged with a similar offence
last month, had also raised a similar amount for
his bail.
Despatch boy to hang for killing wife
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court found a
despatch boy guilty of killing his wife four
years ago, and sentenced him to death by
hanging yesterday.
Justice Datuk Mohamad Zabidin Mohd
Diah ordered the sentence on Herman
Aliseman, 32, after Herman’s counsel failed
to establish a reasonable doubt on the
prosecution’s case.
Herman, from Sarawak, was charged
with stabbing his wife, Noor Azura Abdul
Aziz, 28, to death at their house in Taman
Pusat Kepong, Jinjang, here between
| THURSDAY APRIL 16 2009
pointments, expressed happiness that merits
had been taken into consideration.
He said the Bar also had been working
closely with the judiciary and had given con-
sultation and suggestions on the appointment
of judges during meetings in the Judicial Ap-
pointments Commission (JAC).
“We are giving consultation in JAC but
we are not involved directly in JAC. We are
giving our input in terms of consultation,
suggestion, in terms of who are the judges
who should be elevated, and of course we
leave it to the JAC to make the decision,” he
said.
Ragunath said it was important to have a
first-class judiciary to attract foreign inves-
tors. – Bernama
Khoo with
Chan (left)
at the court
yesterday.
Sessions judge Julie Lack Abdullah allowed
bail of RM6,000 and fixed May 20 for mention.
Chan, who was present in the court yester-
day, had also pleaded not guilty to an amended
charge for the similar offence in the sessions
court on March 13.
Both Khoo and Chan were charged under
the Multimedia Communication Act, 1998 with
unwise use of a network or network services
for making comments, demands, suggestions or
communications which are vulgar, false, threat-
ening or distributing.
The charge carries a fine of up to RM50,000 or
one year’s jail or both upon conviction.
10.30pm and 11.15pm on June 12, 2005.
Herman did not express any emotion
when the sentence was passed.
Witnesses told the court the couple
were going through a divorce when the
incident happened.
Noor Azura succumbed to stab wounds
in her kidney and neck.
Twenty-one witnesses were called to
the stand during the trial.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Yaacub Chik
prosecuted. Mej (Rtd) Ghazali Nik Taib
represented Herman. – Bernama