PETALING JAYA: Former chief justice Tun Mohamed Eusoff Chin (pic) has passed away.
He was 90 years old.
Former chief justice Tun Ariffin Zakaria said he heard the news early yesterday morning, and described Mohamed Eusoff as a good boss.
“He was my boss both in the judicial and legal service and later as a judge.
“He was a good boss, and was highly accessible to his subordinates,” said Ariffin.
According to reports, a post by Mohamed Eusoff’s daughter Zuliana confirmed his passing at 1am yesterday.
His remains were brought back to his house and then to Masjid Al-Hidayah, Kelana Jaya before he was laid to rest at the Section 9 Muslim Cemetery in Kota Damansara.
Mohamed Eusoff was born in Batu Gajah, Perak.
He began his career as a teacher in 1955 before furthering his studies in London.
He was called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn in London in 1963.
He then returned to Malaysia, where he qualified as an advocate and solicitor, and joined the Judicial and Legal Service.
Throughout his career, Mohamed Eusoff served in several key legal posts, including magistrate, Sessions Court president, deputy public prosecutor, assistant registrar, legal adviser and parliamentary draftsman.
He later rose through the judiciary ranks, serving as a High Court judge of Malaya before becoming President of the Court of Appeal.
He was appointed as second Chief Justice on Sept 25, 1994, succeeding Tun Abdul Hamid Omar, and served until Dec 19, 2000.
Prior to the post of Chief Justice of the Federal Court, the judiciary was headed by Lord Presidents of the Supreme Court.
During his tenure, Mohamed Eusoff was involved in several high-profile judicial decisions, including two cases that later became the subject of legal debate.
One was the landmark land ownership case of Adorna Properties Sdn Bhd vs Boonsom Boonyanit, decided in 2000.
The Federal Court ruled that a registered proprietor could not recover a property transferred to a third party, even when the title was later proved to be forged.
The decision was overturned in 2010 by a five-member Federal Court panel led by then Chief Justice Tun Zaki Azmi.
The panel held that the earlier ruling had misconstrued Section 340(3) of the National Land Code.
Mohamed Eusoff was also involved in the Ayer Molek case in 1995. The case concerned a dispute over the transfer of shares and drew criticism over the composition of the Federal Court panel that heard the appeal.
