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KOTA KINABALU – The Judges’ Code of Ethics 2009 is not for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate or make a conclusion, said a Sabah law body.
Sabah Law Society (SLS) president Roger Chin said MACC appeared to have missed that corruption is a separate concept from conflict of interest or breaches of the ethics code.
“Any complaint against a judge who is alleged to have committed a breach of the code of ethics shall be made in writing to the chief justice and may be investigated by the Judges’ Ethics Committee, not MACC.
“In other words, MACC is in no position to investigate or make conclusions as to any alleged conflict of interest or breaches of the code of ethics, as it appears to have done,” he said in a statement today.
Yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said confirmed that MACC concluded that Nazlan had breached the judicial code of ethics.
Chin said SLS was alarmed by this as MACC’s function is to detect and investigate suspected offences, attempts to commit offences, and suspected conspiracies to commit offences under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009.
He added that the word “ethics” and the phrase “conflict of interest” do not appear even once in the act.
On the other hand, he said, the Judges’ Code of Ethics 2009 is to state the basic standards to govern the conduct of all judges and to provide guidance to judges in settling and maintaining high standards of personal and judicial conduct.
Chin said while SLS takes note of the statement of MACC’s Operation Review Panel chairman that, “when MACC receives a report or complaint on allegations of corruption, abuse of power or misappropriation, it is duty bound to investigate”, it is still not entirely accurate.
“Whilst it is possible that certain actions may amount to, for example, both corruption and a breach of the code of ethics, MACC ought to be more cautious in its findings and conscious of its jurisdiction.
“The SLS urges MACC and all other bodies or persons in power to be respectful of the separation of their respective roles, to avoid further damaging public confidence in Malaysian institutions, and not to unnecessarily interfere with each other.
“SLS has and will always stand and march, when necessary, for the independence of the judiciary.” – The Vibes, April 7, 2023
