Acting CJ rejects Bar’s adjournment bid to facilitate July 14 peaceful walk

PETALING JAYA: Acting Chief Justice Hasnah Hashim has rejected a request by the Malaysian Bar to adjourn cases fixed for July 14 to facilitate a gathering on judicial independence next week.

In a letter to Bar members, its secretary, Murshidah Mustafa, said they wrote to Hasnah on July 8, requesting permission for cases to be postponed to another date.

However, the Bar was informed on the same evening that the request had been rejected.

According to the letter, Hasnah said she could not entertain the request as the date for these cases, which involved various stakeholders, had been set long ago.

Hasnah also said witnesses and officers have made preparations for the hearings.

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Nonetheless, Murshidah said, all Bar members, particularly those without court matters on July 14, are urged to take part in the walk.

The Bar is organising the “Walk to Safeguard Judicial Independence” over its call for a royal commission of inquiry into judicial appointments and alleged interference in the judiciary.

According to a circular, the Bar members will gather at the Palace of Justice at 2pm and walk to the Prime Minister’s Office, where they will hand over a memorandum.

Yesterday, the Attorney-General’s Chambers rejected calls for an RCI and a parliamentary select committee to investigate alleged irregularities in judicial appointments, saying the situation did not amount to a constitutional crisis.

It said any suggestion of a crisis was unfounded, and that discrepancies in timing or procedure related to appointments “did not automatically amount to a constitutional crisis”.