KUCHING, Oct 8 — De facto Law Minister Datuk Liew Vui Keong supported today a proposal for the Bar Council, Advocates Association of Sarawak (AAS) and Sabah Law Society (SLS) to be part of the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC).
He said he would bring the proposal to the Cabinet and also to various ministries to get their feedback, as including the three legal associations representing the peninsula, Sarawak and Sabah required amending the JAC Act 2009.
“I find the proposal to include the three bodies as workable,” Liew told reporters after meeting AAS members here.
AAS, led by its president Ranbir Singh Sangah, had proposed that the three bodies be represented in JAC by their respective presidents.
JAC, which has nine members with the chief justice as its chairman, appoints qualified legal practitioners and those in the judicial services for appointments as judges of the High Court, Court of Appeal and Federal Court.
Liew said the proposal by AAS was good because it wanted to be part of the procedure of selecting the judges.
“They proposed that some of those who have been long in legal practice in Sarawak to be appointed as judges as well, not just from the legal services,” he said, adding that he has no objection to the proposal.
