'One must consider the spirit of the law'

LEAD PIC, BLOW UP BIG AND PLACE ALONG RIGHT EDGE OF PAGE 21, FADE OUT LEFT SIDE OF PIC INTO THE TEXT: Legal eagle: Mohd Hishamudin believes that ‘the role of a judge is not to stick to the letter of the law, particularly in dealing with Constitutional law issues. One must consider the spirit of the law.’ – IBRAHIM MOHTAR/The Star

Whenever the Government had erred, I would advise the Government to concede to liability and to negotiate a settlement on the damages. In other words, I would give honest legal opinions without fear or favour, even when the Government was unhappy with the advice.

It is the same as when I became a judge. I decided each case on the merits and gave judgment accordingly, even if I had to rule against the Government. In quite a number of cases I had ruled against the Government.

The law is my passion. My normal lifestyle easily fits into what is expected of the life of a judge. But judges must be given more time to write grounds of judgment so that they can write grounds of judgment of quality.