Lord President Of The Federal Court
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The title of Lord President of the Supreme Court was formerly the title of the head of the judiciary in Malaysia, until 1994 when the office was renamed " Chief Justice of the Federal Court". The Lord President was head of the highest court in Malaysia after the abolition of appeals from Malaysia to the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Augus ...
in 1985. Below him were the Chief Justices of the High Courts of Malaya and
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(and, until 1969,
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
: see
Law of Singapore The legal system of Singapore is based on the English common law system. Major areas of law – particularly administrative law, contract law, equity and trust law, property law and tort law – are largely judge-made, though certain aspects h ...
).


History


Origins

The office of Lord President of the Federal Court was created with the formation of
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
in 1963. The first Lord President of the Federal Court was ''
Tun TUN or tun may refer to: Biology * Tun shells, large sea snails of the family ''Tonnidae'' * Tun, a tardigrade in its cryptobiotic state * Tun or Toon, common name for trees of the genus '' Toona'' Places * Tun, Sweden, a locality in Västra G ...
'' Sir James Thomson, previously Chief Justice of Malaya, and a Scotsman. It is after the Scottish office of
Lord President of the Court of Session The Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General is the most senior judge in Scotland, the head of the judiciary, and the presiding judge of the College of Justice, the Court of Session, and the High Court of Justiciary. The L ...
that the office was named. When the right of appeal to the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Augus ...
was abolished in 1985, the Federal Court was renamed the Supreme Court and the title was changed accordingly.


The 1988 constitutional crisis

In 1988, Lord President ''
Tun TUN or tun may refer to: Biology * Tun shells, large sea snails of the family ''Tonnidae'' * Tun, a tardigrade in its cryptobiotic state * Tun or Toon, common name for trees of the genus '' Toona'' Places * Tun, Sweden, a locality in Västra G ...
''
Salleh Abas Mohamed Salleh bin Abas ( Jawi: محمد صالح بن عباس; ‎25 August 1929 – 16 January 2021) was a Malaysian judge and politician. He was a Lord President of the Federal (then Supreme) Court of Malaysia. He was dismissed from his ...
was brought before a tribunal convened by the Prime Minister Dr
Mahathir Mohamad Mahathir bin Mohamad ( ms, محاضير بن محمد, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the office ...
on the grounds of misconduct. The Supreme Court in the years leading up to 1988 had been fiercely independent and increasingly active, and was at the time due to hear an appeal to determine the future of the ruling party UMNO, which had been declared an illegal society by the
High Court of Malaya The high courts in Malaysia are the third-highest courts in the hierarchy of courts, after the Federal Court and the Court of Appeal. Article 121 of the Constitution of Malaysia provides that there shall be two high courts of co-ordinate jurisdi ...
on the grounds of procedural irregularity. As a result of criticisms of the judiciary made by the Prime Minister, a letter of protest was written by ''Tun'' Salleh to the
Yang di-Pertuan Agong The Yang di-Pertuan Agong (, Jawi: ), also known as the Supreme Head of the Federation, the Paramount Ruler or simply as the Agong, and unofficially as the King of Malaysia, is the constitutional monarch and head of state of Malaysia. The of ...
on behalf of the judiciary. This letter was later used as grounds for the convening of the tribunal. When the Supreme Court granted an injunction prohibiting the tribunal as constituted from hearing the misconduct allegations, five Supreme Court Justices were suspended (and two were subsequently removed), and the injunction overturned. The tribunal later removed ''Tun'' Salleh Abas from the office of Lord President, in which office he was succeeded by the then-Chief Justice of Malaya, ''Tun'' Hamid Omar, who had been the chairman of the tribunal. The 1988 constitutional crisis was widely considered to be the greatest blow to judicial independence in Malaysian history, and at the time led to the
Bar Council of Malaysia The Malaysian Bar (Malay: Badan Peguam Malaysia) is a professional body which regulates the profession of lawyers in peninsular Malaysia. In Malaysia, there is no distinction between a barrister and a solicitor, in that, it is a fused profes ...
refusing to recognise the new Lord President. Around the same time, the Federal Constitution was amended to divest the courts of the "judicial power of the Federation", granting them instead such judicial powers as the
Parliament of Malaysia The Parliament of Malaysia ( ms, Parlimen Malaysia) is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on the Westminster system. The bicameral parliament consists of the Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives, Literal translation, lit. "People's A ...
might grant them.


Renaming of the office

In 1994, in a move regarded as a further downgrading of the judiciary, the office of Lord President was renamed " Chief Justice of the Federal Court", and the offices of Chief Justices of the High Courts in Malaya and in Borneo renamed "Chief Judge of the High Court in Malaya" and "Chief Judge of the High Court in Sabah and Sarawak" respectively. The Supreme Court reverted to the name of Federal Court.


List of Lord Presidents of Malaysia

* Sir James Thomson: 1963 to 1966 * Syed Sheh Hassan Barakbah: 1966 to 1968 *
Mohamed Azmi Mohamed Tun Azmi bin Mohamed was the former Lord President of the Federal Court. His son, Zaki Azmi was the sixth Chief Justice of Malaysia. Honours Honours of Malaysia * : ** Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm The Most Esteemed Ord ...
: 1968 to 1974 *
Mohamed Suffian Mohamed Hashim Tun Mohamed Suffian bin Mohamed Hashim (12 November 1917 – 26 September 2000) was a Malaysian judge, eventually serving as Lord President of the Federal Court from 1974 to 1982. He had previously served as Chief Justice of Malaya. Tun Suf ...
: 1974 to 1982 * Azlan Shah (later
Sultan of Perak The Sultan of Perak (سلطان ڤيراق) is one of the oldest hereditary seats among the Malay states. When the Sultanate of Malacca empire fell to Portugal in 1511, Sultan Mahmud Syah I retreated to Kampar, Sumatra, and died there in ...
and
Yang di-Pertuan Agong The Yang di-Pertuan Agong (, Jawi: ), also known as the Supreme Head of the Federation, the Paramount Ruler or simply as the Agong, and unofficially as the King of Malaysia, is the constitutional monarch and head of state of Malaysia. The of ...
of Malaysia): 1982 to 1984 * Mohamed Salleh Abas: 1984 to 1988 *
Abdul Hamid Omar Abdul Hamid bin Omar (25 March 1929 – 1 September 2009) was the first Chief Justice of Malaysia. Early life Abdul Hamid Omar was born on 25 March 1929 in Kuala Perlis, Perlis Indera Kayangan. He obtained his early education at the Sultan ...
: 1988 to 1994


See also

*
Courts of Malaysia Judiciary of Malaysia is largely centralised despite Malaysia's federal constitution, heavily influenced by the English common law, as well as Islamic jurisprudence. Current system There are generally two types of trials, criminal and civ ...


Further reading

* Tun Mohd Salleh Abas & K. Das (1989), ''May Day for Justice: the Lord President's Version'', Kuala Lumpur: Magnus Book. {{ISBN, 9839631004 Political history of Malaysia