DECEMBER 18 — According to The Star, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is considering three candidates for the attorney general (AG) post. The three — all judges — are Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin, Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh and Kamaludin Md Said.
Ahmad Fairuz and Wan Ahmad Farid are currently serving as High Court judges while Kamaludin is a Court of Appeal judge.
Who qualifies to be AG?
Article 145(1) of the Federal Constitution says that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong “shall, on the advice of the Prime Minister, appoint a person who is qualified to be a judge of the Federal Court to be the Attorney General for the Federation.”
The requirement that the AG is “a person who is qualified to be a judge of the Federal Court”, and not just qualified to be a High Court judge, has been the same since 1963 when the Federation of Malaysia was formed on September 16.
The Federal Court then was the apex court. Below it were the two High Courts of coordinate jurisdiction — that is, High Court of Malaya and High Court of Borneo (now High Court in Sabah and Sarawak).
The High Court was therefore the second highest court in the two-tiered hierarchy of the superior courts in the country.
A judge of the Federal Court then was ordinarily a promoted High Court judge.
Following the creation of the Court of Appeal in 1994 to create a three-tiered hierarchy, a judge of the Federal Court is ordinarily a promoted Court of Appeal judge. The appointment of Zaki Azmi as a judge of the apex court was an exception — extraordinary if you like.
It follows that the choice among the three named candidates for the AG post is obvious. He must be of sufficient seniority to be a judge of the Federal Court.
This is so that the AG can — as the Malay saying goes — “berdiri sama tinggi, duduk sama rendah” or “sekufu” with the most senior of judges in the country.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or organisation and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
