Much was discussed in the public sphere on a recent ruling by the Federal Court where the sole dissenting judgment said the applicants to the matter had no locus standi.
In other words, a person cannot bring a suit challenging the constitutionality of a law unless they can demonstrate that they are or will "imminently" be harmed by the law.
A former Judge also wades in and said the application was a “non-starter” without the participation of the federal government and the attorney-general.
The ordinary rakyat, any of them may petition any branch of government—executive, legislative, or judicial.
It is an important right exercised by the ordinary rakyat as a way to engage elected officials and hold them accountable.
The rule of law, long recognized as a fundamental part which the country practiced, prevents the abuse of state power, requires the law to be followed by all, and ensures that legal rights are fulfilled in practice.
Yes, alone it is not sufficient to make a state democratic but a state which does not observe it cannot be a healthy democracy.
Building democracy and the rule of law may be convergent and mutually reinforcing processes whenever the rule of law is defined in broad, ends-based terms rather than in narrow, formal and exclusively procedural terms.
The rule of law, defended by an independent judiciary, plays a crucial function by ensuring that the equality and dignity of all the ordinary rakyat are not at risk and helps protect the effective performance of the various agencies of electoral, societal and horizontal accountability from potential obstructions and intimidation by powerful State actors.
Adherence to the rule of law by the government means the ordinary rakyat must be able to access the courts and be heard by independent judges under a fair process.
For more than 60 years since its enactment in 1957, the Federal Constitution has been a “working” document, maintaining the original principles upon which our nation was founded while, at the same time, changing with the country, as reflected in its amendments.
While the Constitution itself outlines the basic structure of the federal government, its 61 amendments address many subjects but primarily focus on the rights of the ordinary rakyat.
Understanding the history of the Constitution and its amendments will assist all of us in more fully appreciating these rights and responsibilities as they have evolved over time and ensure that these rights will continue to be exercised, valued, and cherished by future generations.
The Federal Constitution is a carefully balanced document.
It is designed to provide for a government sufficiently strong and flexible to meet the needs of the country yet sufficiently limited and just to protect the guaranteed rights of citizens.
It permits a balance between society’s need for order and the individual’s right to freedom.
The Federal Constitution ensure the permanence of certain principles and values by prohibiting amendments.
The judiciary, which applies the law to individual cases, acts as the guardian of the rule of law.
The complex role of the Federal Court in this system derives from its authority to invalidate legislation or executive actions which, in the Court’s considered judgment, conflict with the Constitution.
This power of "judicial review" has given the Federal Court a crucial responsibility in assuring individual rights, as well as in maintaining a "living Constitution" whose broad provisions are continually applied to complicated new situations.
While the function of judicial review is not explicitly provided in the Federal Constitution, it had been anticipated before the adoption of that document.
The will of the whole people, as expressed in their Constitution, would be supreme over the will of a legislature, whose statutes might express only the temporary will of part of the people.
Constitutional interpretation must be left to the reasoned judgment of independent judges, rather than to the tumult and conflict of the political process.
If every constitutional question were to be decided by public political bargaining, the Federal Constitution would be reduced to a battleground of competing factions, political passion and partisan spirit.
The Federal Court's responsibility to overturn unconstitutional legislation was a necessary consequence of its sworn duty to uphold the Federal Constitution.
That oath could not be fulfilled any other way.
When the Federal Court rules on a constitutional issue, that judgment is virtually final.
Its decisions can be altered only by the rarely used procedure of constitutional amendment or by a new ruling of the Court.
Politicians must never forget that it is a constitution they are expounding.
The Federal Constitution is intended to endure for ages to come, and consequently, to be adapted to the various crises of human affairs.
Let us, by all wise and constitutional measures, promote intelligence among the ordinary rakyat.
All politicians, regardless from the ruling or the opposition coalition have a particularly important role to play i.e they have a statutory duty to ‘uphold the continued independence of the judiciary’ and promote public trust in the rule of law in this country.
The ordinary rakyat strongly supports politicians who play by the rules over those who get things done at the expense of breaking them.
And the ordinary rakyat have consistently and frequently played their part in upholding the rule of law.
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