Zaid: No tribunal on judge's 'misconduct'
Malaysiakini.com
Jun 28, 2008

The government believes there is no basis in the allegation that High Court Judge Ian Chin had breached judicial code of ethics, said
MCPX
de facto law minister Zaid Ibrahim.

"The government cannot be setting up a tribunal every now and then just because someone says it should do so," said Zaid, according to Bernama today.

He was referring to calls by Dr Mahathir Mohamad for a tribunal to be established to investigate alleged misconduct by Justice Chin.

zaid ibrahim judge ian hn chin ding kuong hiing wong hua seh and sarikei parliament election judgement 100608Mahathir had on Thursday claimed that Chin had acted in bias when delivering a judgment in 1999.

The former premier also claimed that when the case went to the Federal Court, the judgment by the three-member panel in 2008 also supported his claims.

Zaid said that should Mahathir or others have proof of the alleged misconduct, they could report the matter to the police or the chief justice.

He also stated that Chin had discharged his duties well and that the government had no intention of stepping in on the tit-for-tat exchange between Mahathir and the judge.

Karpal: Give Dr M a chance

The duo’s exchanges began on June 8 when Chin had made damning allegations against Mahathir of judicial interference and issuing “thinly veiled threats” against judges who would not toe the government line.

The incident had allegedly taken place during the judges conference in 1997. Chin had also alleged that he and other judges were subjected to ‘boot camps’ for government indoctrination.

Mahathir has since denied ever threatening judges and claimed that the ‘boot camps’ were tata negara (national creed) camps meant for civil servants.

karpal singhIn another development, DAP chairperson Karpal Singh has called on Chin to allow Mahathir to rebut criticisms in the court of law.

He said Chin had made allegations under absolute immunity while hearing an election petition against the March 8 polls for the Sarikei seat.

“These allegations have been made by the judge under the cloak of absolute immunity. Justice Chin should not abuse the process of court to make disclosures condemning Dr Mahathir,” he said in a faxed statement.

“Dr Mahathir has now made certain allegations against Justice Chin and called for the setting up of a tribunal against him for judicial misconduct. There should be no discrimination. The law is no respecter of persons,” added the veteran opposition lawmaker.

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