KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 19 — The weak link in the judicial appointments process is the requirement of the prime minister’s approval, a retired Court of Appeal judge said today.

Datuk Ariff Md Yusof said the requirement for the Judicial Appointments Commission Malaysia (JAC) to refer prospective judges to the prime minister for approval was flawed, claiming that deserving candidates did not receive promotions.

“The problem in terms of the judicial appointment, the weak link lies in the need to have the recommendation referred to the prime minister,” Ariff told a forum organised by the Bar Council here.

“That’s where it is. I need not say anything more than that. Some people really deserve to be promoted to the apex of the judiciary, but have not been so appointed or promoted,” he added.

He said that apart from the prime minister, other agencies were also given the privilege of approving judicial candidates put forth by the JAC, but did not elaborate further.

Lawyer Andrew Khoo, who was also a speaker at today’s forum, said the JAC, which currently comprised mostly sitting judges, could slant the selection process to candidates that might mirror them in opinions and perspectives.

“So they will look at ‘Are you like us? Is your temperament like us?’ It’s almost looking at people very much like ‘us’ to become judges,” he said, pointing out that five members of the JAC were sitting judges while the remaining four were former judges.

Former Court of Appeal judge Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus, who was also at the forum, said judges must remain independent and fervently uphold their integrity, despite any injustices they may face from the executive.

“Judges must be courageous and assert their independence. What do the judges want? They want to be respected or they want to be looked down upon by the citizens?

“But a ruthless executive would not be able to victimise a judge in order to emasculate the judiciary if every judge within the judiciary — and not just a handful of judges — is of high integrity, courageous, and assertive of his or her independence,” he said.

He added that the executive may have the power to remove certain members of the judiciary, like during the 1988 judicial crisis, but that shouldn’t negate the need for judges to be firm of conviction and principle.

“Of course the risks are always there. We have the injustices done by the executive to independent judges of courage and conviction.

“A person who is meek should not have accepted the appointment of a judge. Judgeship is a public trust and on no account must this trust be betrayed,” he said.

After retiring as a Court of Appeal judge, Hishamudin reportedly said last September that he was not promoted to the Federal Court because Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak did not agree with the JAC’s recommendation.

Among landmark decisions he delivered was the recent transgender case in which the Court of Appeal declared as invalid the Negri Sembilan state Shariah enactment that criminalises Muslim men for cross-dressing.

The Federal Court, however, overturned the ruling last October, ruling that the transwomen who sought to challenge the state enactment had used incorrect procedures to challenge the constitutionality of the law.