PUTRAJAYA, July 15 — The government is taking time to study the current system for appointing top judges to understand why there is public confusion and concern, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said today.
She said a committee will be formed to review the process and structure of the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC), and to identify what might be causing the lack of clarity.
“Right now, there’s a lot of confusion and a lack of clarity from the public’s perspective,” she told reporters after attending the International Conference On Governance And Integrity 2025 here.
“Where is the confusion coming from? Is it the process itself? Or perhaps even the wording? maybe it’s the word ‘appointment’ in the ‘Judicial Appointments Commission’? I’m not sure, but we need to examine that,” she added.
Azalina said although the JAC has been in place since 2009 and helped appoint five Chief Justices without controversy, the current situation has raised questions that need to be addressed.
“This JAC Act, which was passed and came into force in 2009, has overseen the appointment of five Chief Justices without issue. Sadly, now there’s a problem, so we really need to study it thoroughly,” she said.
The special committee, she said, will include members from both the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara, as well as law professors, lawyers, and constitutional experts. The Bar Council will also be consulted during the early stages.
“If you look at countries like the UK, Canada, Australia, and India, some have a JAC, some don’t. Even Singapore doesn’t have a JAC.
“So we need to examine what works best. Even the structure of our own JAC needs improvement,” she said.
Azalina stressed that there are no plans to amend the Federal Constitution for now, as the government is still gathering expert views.
“First, we need to gather opinions from experts, constitutional scholars, lawyers, and professors. We plan to have a thorough discussion. Once we’ve done that, I’ll bring it to the Cabinet to decide which direction we should take,” she said.
Earlier, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that Malaysians can expect an announcement on the appointment of top judiciary leaders by the Conference of Rulers tomorrow.
He said the announcement can hopefully dispel the “negative perception” from Malaysians surrounding the issue.
