A former Malaysian Bar president and a lawyer who defended a police officer convicted of murdering Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu in his appeal to commute his death sentence are among 23 candidates set to be appointed as judicial commissioners.
According to sources, this will be the largest slew of appointments in recent years, aimed at clearing the backlog of cases, especially in the Klang Valley.
Abdul Fareed Abdul Gafoor, who served as Bar president between 2019 and 2020, will be joined by 14 other lawyers.
They are J Kuldeep Kumar, Adam@ Edward Abdullah, Isa Aziz Ibrahim, Seow Hock Peng, Shahriza Zalina Abdul Shukor, Helmi Hamzah, Rajes Raghavji, Aimi Zainal Azhar, Samry Masri, Moh Kok Wai, Shamsul Bahrin Abdul Manaf, S Kalyana Kumar, Avinder Singh Gill and D Shoba Rajah.
Kuldeep was part of the legal team that represented Azilah Hadri, one of two former Special Actions Unit officers convicted of Altantuya’s murder in 2006.
Last year, Kuldeep also assisted in an appeal to reduce Azilah’s death sentence to a maximum 40-year jail term before a special Federal Court panel.
Eight other appointees meanwhile come from the judicial and legal service.
They include Donald Joseph Franklin, head of the civil civil division in the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC); Syed Faisal Syed Amir, deputy head of the prosecution division; and Asmah Musa, the AGC’s head of appeals unit.
The others are Anita Harun, head of the advisory board in the Prime Minister’s Department; Darmafikri Abu Adam, director of the courts in Negeri Sembilan; and Federal Court senior officials Manira Nor, Noradura Hamzah, and Edwin Paramjothy.
The 23 are expected to take their oath of office before Chief Judge of Malaya Hasnah Hashim and Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Azizah Nawawi this evening.
Chief Justice Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh will be present to witness the event.
Last week, he said the judiciary would work towards resolving the courts’ backlog of cases, and was working with the government on increasing the number of courtrooms and appointing additional judicial commissioners.
He said circuit judges and judicial commissioners would be assigned in various locations to hear ageing cases and dispose of them within a specified period.
These appointees are expected to assist 78 High Court and 13 existing judicial commissioners nationwide in hearing pending cases.
