Two Court of Appeal judges have emerged as unexpected candidates to become the next Chief Judge of Malaya (CJM), with the position’s incumbent, Hasnah Hashim, set to retire in November.
According to sources, one of the two holds seniority on the appellate bench, while the other is less-experienced but highly regarded.
However, the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC), now chaired by Chief Justice Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, appears to be leaning towards nominating a Federal Court judge for the judiciary’s third-ranked position, the sources told FMT.
“The JAC prefers to nominate one of five apex court judges in accordance with the criteria found in the JAC Act,” said one source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
However, the source said “leapfrogging” by a Court of Appeal judge could not be discounted given that it happened when the current chief justice and the chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak (CJSS) were appointed two months ago.
On July 28, Wan Ahmad Farid was appointed to helm the judiciary despite only being elevated to the Court of Appeal last November.
On the same day, Azizah Nawawi, then the seniormost judge on the appeals court bench, was named CJSS, following the retirement of Abdul Rahman Sebli three days earlier.
At the time, Azizah’s appointment came as a surprise to many, as it was widely believed that Justice Rhodzariah Bujang, a Federal Court judge since 2020, would be named to the post.
The JAC is considering Rhodzariah, and four of her colleagues — Justices Nordin Hassan, Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera, Ahmad Terrirudin Salleh and Lee Swee Seng —for the post of CJM, one source said.
“If the JAC’s proposal is ignored, then it would be due to other considerations — similar to the surprise appointment of Wan Ahmad Farid and Azizah.
“But it must be made clear that neither Wan Ahmad Farid nor Azizah lobbied for their positions. It merely fell onto their laps then,” the source said.
The JAC is meeting in Kuala Terengganu tomorrow to nominate their preferred candidate for CJM, and to name other judges to fill several impending vacancies in the Federal Court.
Justice Zabariah Yusof leaves office next month, while Justice Hanipah Farikullah, like Hasnah, will retire in November. All three are coming to the end of the extended terms, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 66 six months earlier.
Under Section 26 of the JAC Act, the commission shall submit a report to the prime minister identifying a candidate to fill any vacancy. Section 27 allows the prime minister to request for two more names for any judicial vacancy if he is not amenable to the JAC’s first choice.
Article 122B of the Federal Constitution provides that the appointments are made by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, acting on the advice of the prime minister, and after consulting the Conference of Rulers.
Lawyer Syed Iskandar Syed Jaafar said the JAC will be guided by legislative criteria in their choice of candidate.
“In nominating a candidate for the post of CJM, they will be looking at the seniority of the person,” he said.
Syed Iskandar said an appointment out of the norm would display “the wrong optics as to where the judiciary was heading”.
Lawyer Ramesh NP Chandran said Wan Ahmad Farid’s appointment may have been due to peculiar circumstances then prevailing, but advised against it being repeated.
“Overlooking the apex court judges will demoralise them,” he said.
Ramesh called for the prime minister to give serious consideration to the JAC’s nominee.
“Five of the nine JAC members are judges. They are on the ground and are better suited to identify the right candidate for the post of CJM,” he said.
