GEORGE TOWN, March 13 — Chief Justice Tan Sri Ariffin Zakaria today fended off allegations of bias in the judiciary, saying that any aggrieved by “unfair” judgments has the option to contest these decisions.

He explained the public could appeal decisions made by lower courts all the way to the Federal Court, the country’s highest, if they felt there was injustice in the decision of any case.

“If a judge is seen to be biased and this is discovered to be true, the trial will be nullified, that’s what we call review proceedings,” he told a press conference at the Equatorial Hotel here this morning after officiating the 48^th Malaysian Judges Conference.

He added that the judiciary is always open to criticism, but that these should be fair.

“If whatever happened in court is deemed wrong, give us the proof, show us where it went wrong,” he continued.

He was replying to questions regarding criticism directed at the judiciary over the recent convictions of Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for sodomy and DAP chairman Karpal Singh for sedition.

Anwar was sentenced to five years’ jail and was disqualified the Kajang by-election just days ahead of nomination, while Karpal was fined RM4,000; both are now at risk of losing their parliamentary seats.

While refusing to comment on the the cases in particular as both cases are pending appeal, Ariffin said the judiciary cherished its integrity and provided avenues for involved parties to challenge any judge’s part in proceedings.

“For example, there is an application pending at the Court of Appeal for a review of a decision against TV3; they have applied to disqualify the judge and now it is pending a review to set aside the judge,” he said.

“We have all these procedures in place to ensure independence and the integrity of the judiciary is not compromised, what more can we have,” he added.

He is adamant that there was never any compromise in the independence of the judiciary and personally vowed that he had always maintained the independence of the judiciary.

He assured Malaysians that all decisions by the judiciary are based purely on procedure and the rule of law.

“In Karpal’s case, he can still go to the Court of Appeal and, after that, the Federal Court,” he said.

He urged the public not to “pre-judge what is going to happen” as the courts will all exercise due process in all cases, which he said ensured “everybody gets the same treatment in court.”

Ariffin pointed out that the same judiciary now being attacked as biased was the also the one that earlier freed both Karpal and Anwar.

“It is all due process, how can we say acquittal is justice whereas conviction is injustice, that’s not right,” he said.

Karpal was initially acquitted without having to enter his defence in 2010 over a sedition charge stemming from his remark in 2009  that  the Perak Ruler’s decision to remove Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin as mentri besar in favour of Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir was open to legal challenge.

A fresh trial of the case was heard in court following appeal by the prosecution and Karpal was found guilty of sedition on February 21 this year and fined RM4,000 on Tuesday.

In Anwar’s case, his acquittal was reversed by the Court of Appeal last Friday and he was handed a five-year jail sentence.

According to the Federal Constitution, any lawmaker who receives a fine of over RM2,000 or a jail sentence of more than one year will be disqualified from holding public office as an elected representative.

Anwar had since filed an appeal to the Federal Court while Karpal is also filing an appeal soon.

Both lawmakers can still keep their parliamentary seats until they have exhausted all avenues of appeals against those court decisions.