Not for MACC to probe code of conduct of judges, says law group

KOTA KINABALU: It is not for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate or talk about the code of conduct of judges, said Sabah Law Society (SLS) president Roger Chin.

Issues of alleged breaches in judges’ ethics, said Chin, was for the Judges’ Ethics Committee to investigate and not the MACC, which is mandated by law to investigate corruption.

SLS, he added, was alarmed by MACC’s findings that Justice Datuk Mohd Nazlan Ghazali had breached the Judges’ Code of Ethics 2009 and had a conflict of interest, as reportedly stated in a letter by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.

Chin said among others, MACC’s function was to detect and investigate suspected offences, attempts to commit offences and suspected conspiracies to commit offences identified under the MACC Act.

“The offences under the Act, unsurprisingly, all relate to corruption, including among others, offences of corruptly giving or accepting gratification, corruptly withdrawing tenders, bribery and using office for gratification.

“What is important to note is that the word ‘ethics’ and the phrase ‘conflict of interest’ do not appear even once in the Act,” Chin said in a statement here yesterday.

According to Azalina’s aide, the letter posted on social media was genuine and in response to a letter sent by Tetuan Shafee & Co.

In a letter dated March 20 to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s solicitors, Shafee & Co, Azalina had said that Mohd Nazlan, who presided over Najib’s SRC International Sdn Bhd trial in the High Court, was found to have breached the code of ethics and had a conflict of interest.

Azalina confirmed that on Feb 21, the MACC had presented its report on Mohd Nazlan to Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat pertaining to breaches under the Judicial Code of Ethics 2009.

In her letter replying to Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Azalina said: “I can confirm that the answers to the questions are in the affirmative” but urged Muhammad Shafee to request a copy of the outcome of the report directly from the MACC as it is classified confidential.

Chin also urged MACC and all other bodies or persons in power to be respectful of the separation of their respective roles.