RCI into allegations of judicial misconduct must be set up quickly, says Suhakam

PETALING JAYA: The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) has called for the speedy set up of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into allegations of judicial misconduct contained in an affidavit filed by an Appeals Court judge last year.

The affidavit was filed by Court of Appeal judge Datuk Dr Hamid Sultan Abu Backer in February 2019, and quickly went viral.

"The allegations made in the aforementioned affidavit, if proven to be true, are serious violations of human rights and liberties guaranteed in the Federal Constitution, in particular equality before the law and equal protection of the law for all," said Suhakam.

Suhakam said that the then Pakatan Harapan government had in February last year, the same month the affidavit was filed, announced that it would establish an RCI to look into the allegations.

"To date, there seems to be no further developments on either the establishment of the RCI or the investigation of the allegations made in the affidavit.

"Suhakam hopes that the RCI will be established immediately without any further delay in order to restore the public’s trust and confidence in the country’s justice system and protect the independence of the judiciary," it said in a statement Monday (Sept 14).

The commission added that the judiciary was a fundamental pillar of a democratic state, and therefore its independence and integrity were critical to ensure the public’s trust and confidence in fair and impartial justice for all in the country.

The 65-page affidavit was filed in support of lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo’s court application seeking a declaration that the then chief justice Richard Malanjum had allegedly failed in his duty to complete investigations into two widely publicised cases of purported judicial interference.