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By Shaila Koshy, The Star KUALA LUMPUR: The Judiciary cannot decline or delay administering justice just because the decisions are not going to be universally popular, said Raja Muda of Perak Raja Nazrin Shah.
He quoted his father, former Lord President Sultan Azlan Shah in a 1984 lecture: “Just as politicians ought not to be judges, so too judges ought not to be politicians.” Raja Nazrin said yesterday bad decisions arose when the two interests are confused and co-mingled. He said this in his keynote address at Suhakam’s “Judicial Colloquium on Human Rights” at a hotel here. Raja Nazrin said the buck stops on the steps of the Palace of Justice when it comes to upholding human rights. Issues of justice, he added, could only be resolved with a fair hearing and impartial and consistent application of the law, adding that this required “great boldness.” He asked judges to adopt international human rights thinking and standards in arriving at decisions. A new wind was blowing across Asia, he said, and this wind favoured leaders of capability and integrity. As such, he said there should be new forms of human rights engagement - between the Executive and Judiciary; between the government and the people; and the country and international community. He stressed that those in government needed to internalise fundamental human rights principles or they would remain a distant dream. Regional Representative of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for South-East Asia Dr Homayoun Alizadeh, who spoke on the challenges in implementing international human rights instruments, said judges were state actors. Dr Alizadeh said these instruments imposed a legal obligation on judges to ensure claimants had full enjoyment of procedural rights. Suhakam chairman Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman, who had defended the Executive in a public interest litigation case when he was Attorney-General, created a stir when he asked whether Suhakam had locus standi to take up human rights issues. He cited the Suhakam Act that entrusts the protection of human rights to Suhakam. “It would be shameful if you can’t,” said panellist Universiti Teknologi Mara’s Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Shad Faruqi. Senior lawyer Raja Aziz Addruse said that since the Act gave Suhakam power to protect human rights, it followed it had a legitimate interest. Federal Court Justice Datuk Gopal Sri Ram had the audience in stitches, saying: “Judges can’t answer an academic question. Come before us and we will give you an answer.” In closing the event, Chief Justice Tun Zaki Azmi said human rights was critical in defining justice. He said a fair balance could be struck between national security, public safety and individual rights.
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The Blogs 
Don't think like politcian... Very funny. Please don't insult our intelligent anymore. Just go away or keep quiet maybe rakyat will forgive u.
