EX-JUDGE JUDGING THE JUDGES

In his latest scathing critique, he said the rakyat is “stunned by the ignorance of our judges of the highest court in the land”, as seen in the recent Federal Court’s decision not to review Anwar Ibrahim’s application to review its previous decision dismissing his application for disclosure of documents for his second sodomy trial.

By Martin Jalleh


The integrity of the judiciary has been badly mauled by a legal lion who does not mince his words no matter how high or mighty a judge thinks he is. He has called a spade a spade and certain members of the judiciary an “incompetent” and even an “idiotic” bunch!

All the Chief Justice (CJ) and the judges in the Palace of Justice have managed to do is remain mum, mute and mumble amongst themselves as N H Chan methodically makes them out for who they really are and the mockery they have made of the law!

The respected, renowned and retired Justice N H Chan is very frustrated, fed-up and furious at how the judiciary which he had served so faithfully has been reduced to a farce run by those who are legal and intellectual frauds or what he has called “imposters”!

With each passing compromised judgment N H Chan unhesitatingly hits out at judges with an increasingly sharper sting. He leaves no stone unturned, no errant judge uncovered. They can “no longer mask their hyperbole judgments with unintelligible garbage”.

“Fools on the bench”

In his latest scathing critique, he said the rakyat is “stunned by the ignorance of our judges of the highest court in the land”, as seen in the recent Federal Court’s decision not to review Anwar Ibrahim’s application to review its previous decision dismissing his application for disclosure of documents for his second sodomy trial.

N H Chan said the Federal Court’s approach to Rule 137 of the Rules of the Federal Court 1995 was “inconsistent” and “dishonest” and “those ignoramuses” were talking “utter nonsense”. Those “inane judges cannot even understand plain English”! He put it very plainly and painfully!

Calling the three-member panel of Justice Zulkefli Ahmad Makinuddin, Mohd Ghazali Mohd Yusoff and Heliliah Mohd Yusof “incompetent”, he added “perhaps they were clowns as their statements were laughable”.

His searing criticism was that they “…do not know justice from injustice”, and that “such lowly individuals should never be allowed to sit on the seat of Justice…(and) to be judges at all. And yet there are so many of them in the judiciary today ever since the rot begun.”

He shredded into smithereens the “judicial renaissance” of the CJ: “Our country does not need impostors, who pose as judges, to deceive the common people any longer. The common citizenry can now uncover the impostors hiding beneath the mantle of the judicature.”

He laid bare the judicial sham: “With judges such as these in the Malaysian judiciary where, to them, the principles of the law are not to be consonant with justice to be manipulated by them to uphold injustice, it is no wonder that the errant judges have forfeited the confidence of the people. ”

He left them with a stinging slap in the face: “The general public does not respect such judges anymore! They have put themselves beyond the pale. Just like pariahs. Don’t you think they should be despised?”

On High Court judge Justice Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah’s rejection of Anwar’s application to have the judge recuse himself from further hearing the sodomy trial, N H Chan said that the judge was talking “utter nonsense” and “knew next to nothing about judicial bias”.

He added that the “moral of this unsavoury episode” is this: if you appoint mediocre lawyers to the Bench you will get substandard judges. The solution to this problem is a simple one. Appoint judges from the cream of the legal profession and you will not find me assailing the judges for incompetence simply because I will not be able to do so.”

Such was his cutting conclusion: “It is only when we have fools on the bench that I can point out that what they have decided is not the law.”

“Bunch of idiots in high places”

N H Chan had not spared the judges in the cases related to the Perak constitutional crisis of his very strong language when scrutinising their decisions (with the exception of Kuala Lumpur High Court Justice Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim whom he had praised).

He highlighted the “bad” and “perverse” judgments, especially those in the appellate courts, the collective written judgements which were “riddled with contradictions” and how the Perak and Federal Constitutions were toyed with and trampled on by the judges!

During the Perak debacle N H Chan had said that there are “many of our judges today especially among those judges in the higher echelon of the judicial hierarchy who do not seem to know the true meaning of separation of powers in constitutional law. This is most apparent.”

He called some of the judges of the cases of the Perak imbroglio:

a) Bad judges – they “seem to think that independence means that they can do what they like”

b) Recalcitrant judges – “they think that words can mean whatever they want them to mean”

c) Humpty Dumpty judges – “they also think that they are independent of the legislature”.

N H Chan has brought to light how beholden the judiciary is to the Umno-dominated Government. He said the “so-called Perak crisis has brought out a host of cases that showed that the judges gave the impression that they were one-sided. The perception of the people is that they sided with the BN government.”

In the “shocking case” of Zambry v Sivakumar in the Federal Court, he called the judgment by the “infamous five” (judges) Alauddin Mohd Sheriff , Arifin Zakaria, Nik Hashim Ab Rahman, Augustine Paul and Ahmad Makinnuddin, a “perverse decision”.

In the case of Nizar vs Zambry he called the panel of five Federal Court judges made up of the President of the Court of Appeal Alauddin Mohd Sheriff, Chief Judge of Malaya Arifin Zakaria, Zulkefli Ahmad Makinuddin, Ghazali Mohd Yusoff and Abdul Hamid Embong, “myopic judges”.

They “were lost in a quagmire of confused thinking caused by their own incompetence. They found themselves deep in the forest unable to see the wood for the trees. Does this mean that we have a bunch of incompetent judges who sit in the highest court in the land?”

Alas, with the help of N H Chan the public especially those in Perak were able to see for themselves how members of the judiciary had left behind a dead constitution, “bad” and “perverse” decisions, dubious declaratory orders, judgments devoid of reasoned grounds, and disgraceful double standards.

Blind and Biased Judges

N H Chan has “judged the judges”. He considers them, especially those in the appellate courts’ “ignorant”, “inane”, “incompetent” and even “idiots” (which he has strongly inferred).

The public shares his view. In their eyes the judiciary has allowed itself to be intimidated, its independence and impartiality interfered with, and its integrity reduced to ignominy.

In the light of the severe criticism of N H Chan of the judiciary (which is quite unprecedented by a retired judge), surely the Chief Justice cannot stand idly, silently and stoically by – unless Zaki Azmi strenuously, staunchly and solemnly agrees with him!

Further if Zaki continues to remain silent the public will assume that he shares N H Chan's searing criticism of the judiciary. Logically he would have to resign for he has allowed the reputation of the judiciary to be sullied irreparably.

The judicial shenanigans whom N H Chan has criticized and castigated should also resign for having shamelessly sacrificed justice on the altar of political expediency.

N H Chan’s comments on members of the judiciary have no doubt been bold, blunt and blistering. He has accused judges of being blind, biased and being a bunch of “idiots” and “fools”. He has thrown the gauntlet down.

If the CJ disagrees with N H Chan’s criticisms he should haul the former Court of Appeal judge into court and demand that the latter shows cause for why he should not be cited for contempt! Does Zaki have the guts to take up the gauntlet or will he prefer to allow the judicial circus to go on?

N H Chan has made no bones about it. His blitzkrieg on the judiciary will continue. “Bad guys” had better beware! He will ensure that their names remain in infamy for generations to come unless they recant the wrongs that they have done! He will even write their obituary and if they outlive him there will be others who will take his place!

N H Chan sees the next general elections as the only solution to an unsalvageable judiciary viewed by the public with greater suspicion, skepticism and even scorn. He once commented: “At the present time and judging by what we have experienced so far from the Perak takeover cases, the quality of most of our judges is suspect”.

“In the meantime what should we do with so many bad apples in the barrel? If only there could be a change in government in the next general elections with the opposition winning by a landslide. Then we could get rid of all the bad apples by Act of Parliament.”


Comments (20)


written by educationist, March 11, 2010 04:14:22

"Charge N H Chan for contempt or resign, CJ?" - I say Martin, why do u want to taunt that UMNOputra division head like that?
Remember the sort of justice system we have, remember we are indeed another Zimbabwe, so if the UMNOputras so want, Justice NH Chan can indeed be thrown into their dungeons!!
But, i salute you, Mr Justice Chan[does not matter that u are retired, u deserve this most noble of addressing unless those many sitting imbeciles on the bench]!!
U can enjoy ur retirement in comfort but u have chosen to lock horns with the UMNOputras in this area where their hypocrisy are torn to pieces by your legal knowledge and justice applied judiciously.
Yes, the PR must get their act together!!
Change , we must!!
Change, we can!!

...
written by Highway16, March 11, 2010 03:40:35

Honorable NH Chan, you were wrong when you classify them as "Clowns". They should be "JOKERS" as they work in the Palace (of Justice).


+0 ...
written by ak_malaysia, March 11, 2010 01:16:58

Thank you, as always, justice NH Chan for your insightful and brilliant analysis which is an eye-opener to a layman like me! May God bless and keep you for your righteousness, impartiality and sense of professionalism expected of judges, retired or otherwise!
No, justice Chan should not join any political party so that he can air his views without bias and with impartiality and not bound by party rules so that the truth be always revealed! Just like our beloved Pete, it is better for justice Chan to be an activist. If and when Pakatan marches into Putrajaya, we, the rakyat will positively endorse him to be our CJ if not our legal consultant to tap his vast knowledege and wealth of experience at both ends of the legal profession.

Malaysia needs more of brave and upright people with calibre like our beloved and highly respected justice. God Bless you!
+3 ...
written by Davy McChester, March 11, 2010 01:14:42

If it is the representation of everything else in Malaysia f being managed by a bunch of nicompoo,expect the incumbents to become violent when the end of their misrule nears
+3 ...
written by hunkeyboy, March 11, 2010 01:11:49

Clowns they very likely are, haha. Incompetent, inane, inconsistent and dishonest similarly likely too. They don't expect too much from their Judiciary after all. And government in general don't care two hoots and even if any do, all that may be quite a bit over their heads.
But it can't be that the judges cannot understand plain English! Heck, how did they become judges of the highest order? How? At least one of them was one time the Solicitor General who studied in an English school in Ipoh and went on to the law Mecca (oops, better withdraw that) that law apex of London.
Don't know plain English? Nah. Nothing to do with language abilities, Nothing to do with knowing the law.
It's all about USING the law. Yes, sadly they do not know justice from injustice and that's all embedded in their hearts and conscience.
Yes, they ("such lowly individuals") should never be allowed to sit on the seat of Justice.
BUT THEY ARE. God, Allah (or Allah, God if you prefer) help and deliver us.

+4 ...
written by malgal, March 11, 2010 00:13:45

NH Chan is worthy of his silks. Bless you for your clear sense of justice.
+6 ...
written by DPG, March 10, 2010 23:58:55

Nazri, how about you challenging N H Chan to a televised debate, as you speak for UMNO on all legal matters?
+7 ...
written by malaysian spring, March 10, 2010 23:54:40

Our judges have become whores and our judiciary a whorehouse to service the executive who pay these whores with our hard earned tax money to pleasure themselves and screw us, the rakyat.
+6 ...
written by malsia1206, March 10, 2010 22:58:30

Are we all not missing the essence here? Forget the Judiciary. Forget the Exeecutive, Parliament, MACC, PDRM, AG. Forget them all. The nerve centre lies right in Putrajaya. Go straight for the Archilles Heel and you can begin to unseat whatever fools, cronies and lepers we have in our midst. The one true and only target is PUTRAJAYA. All else is secondary. Have we all forgotten to master 'The Art of War'?
+4 ...
written by Citizen Watch, March 10, 2010 22:36:24

It is time for PR to strategize and attack and boycott the mainstream media as we go into the 13th GE.
+6 ...
written by Citizen Watch, March 10, 2010 22:33:33

The reason our judges behave the way they do is because the mainstream media will never report about their travesty of justice like what the media in other countries would do. The people in our judiciary can still go to sleep soundly as the next day our MSM will not comment on their assine and disgusting deeds. If in another country the independent media would tear the partial judges to pieces. Same thing with would be done to the politicians and enforcement officials. Tonight they will worry and can't even get a minutes sleep wondering what the media will say about them tomorrow morning. That does not happen to the unrepentant in Boleh Land. They sleep to the lullaby of non-reporting by the biased mainstream media.
+8 ...
written by Aduh, March 10, 2010 22:16:06

Thank you Yang Arif N H Chan. Though you have retired , you still deserve such dignity. Our respect for you is more than most of the serving judges. At the best, they deserve to be addressed as Yang Bahlol

Bravo, for making the bold move to call a spade a spade without mincing your words. . Nobody in authority in your field of expertise has done that in the past. The frequent hue and cry from the general public always fall on deaf ears. But , confident, it will not be so this time.

Your description of those judges are very apt. They are incompetent, idiots , fools, clowns, imposters, ignorant, inconsistent, dishonest, one-sided , myopic, inane, etc,etc, And they cannot understand plain English

zaki and najib, say something. We want to hear from you !!!

Pakatan , you have a ready made CJ to replace that rotten zaki when you (Pakatan) takes over the central government come GE 13.

+12 ...
written by Motherchell, March 10, 2010 22:08:40

My apologies for the earlier posting with a file format error: Would be grateful if Adm could delete my earlier posting. Thank You!

Well said Mr NH Chan!--- but the Malaysian sullied Judiciary writes its judgments at the counters of the HAVANA CLUB!!!


+12 ...
written by Awang Hitam, March 10, 2010 21:27:42

Me speakee no ""more better Inglissh judges"" in the Malaysian Judiaciary. I takes forever for these umno appointed judges to write their judgements!
The result of racial divisive laws in education and promotion of ketuanan moolayu. moo! moo! moo!
Maybe our Auntie English can be Justice like Justice Lau Bee Lan eh!

Down with BN and nantang umnoooooo.
+13 ...
written by Eskay345, March 10, 2010 21:13:17

Mr. NH Chan has thrown the gauntlet.
So will the "imposters on high benches" continue to remain in silent mode thus proving that the ex-Justice Chan has substance in what he has been ranting about these few months?.
Is there nobody in Putrajaya who dare to take up the challenge?
Or have they all lost their marbles.
+15 ...
written by Motherchell, March 10, 2010 20:54:54

Well said Mr NH Chan!--- but the Malaysian sullied Judiciary writes its judgments at the counters of the HAVANA CLUB.

+16 ...
written by Aria, March 10, 2010 20:51:45

I hope retired Justice N H Chan runs for Parliment under Pakatan flag. We need more people like him in Pakatan as he is someone who will not be corrupt or jump parties and is intelligent. He definitely will get my vote.
+34 ...
written by Aria, March 10, 2010 20:47:33

The judges are not just fools but greedy fools. Everything they are doing for UMNO is so that they can keep their jobs or even be promoted. Any trial that has something to do with the Government is just a circus to show that justice has been done. All Malaysians know this by now and the rest of the world is also finding out.
+25 ...
written by onnetline, March 10, 2010 20:23:27

Mr NH Chan,

As a retired learned judge, you have spoken well and without fear or favour. Malaysians salute you !
And to hell with the fcukking pariah monkeys at the Bench or in the Kangaroo courts ! !
+56 ...
written by philip25, March 10, 2010 20:19:50

I rad the judgement on the Federal Court judgement on Anwar's sacking as lawful. And going through the the sun paper CJ Alauddin stated that mamak has the authority under the federal constitution to sack his cabinet minister. FURTHUR he sAID I quote " THE KING as a constitutuonal monarch was requird to act in accordnce with the advice of the prime minister.Good so far. However how come the judges in the Perak case of Nizar did not apply the same logic i.e that the sultan follow the advice of the MB. Now we have two laws one for the agong and another for the sultans. Please MR JUDges don't think the man in the street are fools. ONE LAW for BN and another for PKR. You judges are a disgrace to this nation and me an ordinary rakyaat can see the difference. You CJ and the rest of your monkeys on the bench will have to answer for all th foolish and incompetent judgements yr dishing out to please yr masters in BN. AS GOD is our JUDGE the whole pack of you right from the top downwards will pay the price and your day of reckoning is near.YR WEalth accumlatd here will not help when judgement day comes.Lastly yr places are in HELL and you will burn for all erternity. I Curse you for all the wrongs that you judges inflict on this country. Pl don't forget MR Hacks who I AM SURE IS IN HELL fire paying for his sins for taking the side of the DEVIL in sodomy I