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Media Statement (2) 
by Lim Kit Siang  
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(Parliament, Thursday): The call by Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim for the abolition of the common law system and favouring its replacement by Islamic law system is most unbecoming of the highest judicial officer of the land sworn to defend and uphold the Constitution and the Merdeka social contract.

Fairuz was also highly irresponsible in trying to divert attention from his failure to institute judicial reforms to restore public confidence in judicial independence, integrity and meritocracy.

In his speech opening a seminar on the thoughts and academic works of the late Tan Sri Ahmad Ibrahim on Tuesday, Fairuz said (as reported by Utusan Malaysia’s front-page headline news):

PETALING JAYA 21 Ogos – Ketua Hakim Negara, Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim hari ini mencadangkan rujukan kepada Common Law Inggeris dimansuhkan daripada undang-undang sivil negara ini kerana ia menggambarkan minda pengamal undang-undang tempatan yang masih terjajah.

Beliau juga menegur sesetengah pengamal undang-undang yang terus mengguna pakai Common Law Inggeris dalam kes-kes perbicaraan tertentu.

Sambil menyifatkan mereka sebagai ‘katak di bawah tempurung penjajah’, Ahmad Fairuz menegaskan, gejala tersebut tidak seharusnya berlaku selepas 50 tahun Malaysia mencapai kemerdekaan.

Menurut beliau, setelah negara merdeka selama lima dekad, pakar-pakar perundangan tempatan seharusnya sudah mampu mewujudkan undang-undang yang lebih bermutu dan sesuai dengan keadaan semasa.

‘‘Sudah 50 tahun kita merdeka, sudah 50 tahun kita terlepas daripada cengkaman penjajah, tetapi Seksyen 3 dan 5 Undang-Undang Sivil 1956 masih kekal dalam perundangan kita.

‘‘Apakah ini petanda bahawa Common Law Inggeris itu adalah undang-undang yang paling baik di dunia? Apakah ini petanda bahawa pakar undang-undang kita masih di bawah tempurung penjajah?’’ soalnya…

Ahmad Fairuz memberitahu, sudah tiba masanya kedua-dua seksyen tersebut dipinda dengan memansuhkan semua rujukan kepada Common Law Inggeris dan undang-undang serta kaedah-kaedah ekuiti yang ditadbirkan di England.

Sebagai ganti, menurut beliau, pengamal undang-undang mungkin boleh merujuk kepada keputusan-keputusan mahkamah di negara ini yang mengikut undang-undang tempatan dan memberi keutamaan kepada keadaan di negeri-negeri di Malaysia.

Dalam hubungan ini, beliau mahu pakar undang-undang di Malaysia bersepakat sama ada mahu meneruskan amalan merujuk kepada Common Law.

Jika sebaliknya, tegas beliau, pendekatan baru perlu diambil bagi menggantikan Common Law Inggeris yang dilihat sudah sebati dalam perundangan negara.

Beliau menambah, mungkin juga sudah tiba masanya untuk memartabatkan undang-undang Islam bukan sahaja dalam perundangan negara tetapi juga perundangan antarabangsa.

Sekiranya idea itu diterima, jelas beliau, sudah pasti keharmonian undang-undang sivil dan undang-undang syariah dapat dicetuskan sehingga memberi impak maksimum kepada masyarakat.

Is this a speech that should be made by the Chief Justice, knowing that it will create deep divisions and dissensions not only among the judiciary but also among the people for violating the Merdeka social contract as well as scaring off foreign investors – apart from going against his oath of office to defend and uphold the Constitution.

If former Lord President Tun Salleh Abas could be indicted and sacked for, among other things, disregarding the secular basis of the Malaysian Constitution and advocating Islamisation of Malaysian legal system, could Fairuz similarly be referred to a Judicial Tribunal for a similar offence?

Although the motive and timing of Fairuz’ call is most questionable, the call to abolish the common law and increasingly remove the secular character of the Constitution must be taken seriously.

In the past decade, there had been mounting calls for the abolition of the English common law and its replacement by a Malaysian common law based on the Islamic law system.

There have even been proposals as to how this transformation could be effected, including amendment of the Constitution -

• to provide that rules of Islamic Syariah as a source of law (as in most of the Arab countries) or as the main/principal source of legislation (as in Egypt and Yemen) or the Quran and Sunnah as the main source of legal rules (as in Saudi Arabia);

• to retain existing laws and legal system, except the laws that on a studied scrutiny are found to be inconsistent with or repugnant to the Quran and Sunnah and, therefore, rendered inoperative; or

• To make all Islamic injunctions as the basis of all laws.

Does Malaysia want to go down the road to abolish the common law system and to start the process to increasingly replace the secular legal system with an Islamic law system?
 

(23/8/2007)