PUTRAJAYA — Outgoing Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat gave a rousing speech to the legal and judicial fraternity today, recounting snippets of her six-year tenure during which Malaysia changed prime ministers four times.
She said she firmly believed that the judiciary under her leadership had made the correct decisions based on the law and facts, regardless of the “heated political overtones and undertones” that surrounded some of these cases before the court.
In her final speech as Chief Justice at the Opening of the Legal Year 2025, Tengku Maimun said her six-year tenure has coincided with four different Prime Ministers of different political affiliations — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and presently Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
“During this time, judicial panels led by me have made what we firmly believed to be correct decisions based on the law and facts regardless of the heated political overtones and undertones that clothed some of these cases.
“This alone should dispel any baseless notion that I have ever been partial to any particular Prime Minister or any political party,” she said at the event held at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre, here, today.
“As Chief Justice, I have been criticised, vilified, been labelled un-Islamic or an enemy of Islam, my husband (unfairly so) has been used against me in some applications to not only have me recused but more generally, to embarrass me and my colleagues.
“None of them have or ever will pass the test of my conscience, and praise be to Allah, I have not once lost sleep over these comments,” Tengku Maimun said.
The reference to her husband relates to the attempt in 2023 by Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s legal team to seek her recusal from the Federal Court panel hearing the former prime minister’s appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision to uphold his conviction and sentence for corruption in the SRC International case.
Najib’s defence team had raised a 2018 Facebook post by Tengku Maimun’s husband which was critical of Najib’s administration.
The chief justice said she had carried the burden, image and overall responsibilities of the judiciary for almost six years, adding that she does not envy the next person who would take over from her.
“It is an extremely intimidating position to hold, but upon accepting the appointment, I am fully committed to doing it properly.
“I will not bend or bow to any person no matter how high and mighty, to do what he or she demands of me,” she added.
Tengku Maimun became the first female chief justice in May 2019 and will go on mandatory retirement upon turning 66 in July this year. However, she can remain in office for another six months if the Yang-di-Pertuan Agong grants an extension of her tenure.
Tengku Maimun said she looked forward to retirement, believing that the judiciary was now “in a better place” than before.
“The role of an independent Judiciary has been restored and the public are confident in us,” she said.
Throughout her tenure, she said she was guided by no other consideration, other than the law and the facts of the case within the bounds of judicially established principles.
She also reminded judges to uphold the Federal Constitution as supreme, stressing that the courts have the duty “as the only collective body with the inherent power to do justice by interpreting the Constitution”.
She reminded that, unlike the United Kingdom which does not have a single, codified constitution, Parliament in Malaysia is not supreme.
“The existence of this doctrine of constitutional supremacy that upholds not just the words and explicit provisions of the Constitution but protects its spirit, implied principles and design, is an indelible principle of our Rule of Law,” Tengku Maimun said. – January 8, 2025
