Events that led to judicial crisis of ’88

KUALA LUMPUR: The judicial crisis was sparked off in 1988 when the then Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad tabled a Bill in Parliament to amend Articles 121 and 145 of the Federal Constitution.

The Bill sought to divest the courts of the “judicial power of the Federation”, giving them only such powers as Parliament granted them. The Attorney-General was also empowered to determine venues for cases.