THE Malaysian judiciary must return to the “glory days” of the 70s and 80s when it enjoyed a high, well-earned international reputation by the making right decisions consistently, said Attorney-General Tommy Thomas today.

“If the judiciary intends to recover its glory and regain judicial credibility, there is only one way of doing so,” said Thomas in his address at the ceremonial sitting to celebrate the appointment of the new Chief Justice, Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat this afternoon at the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya.

“Judges must endeavour to make the right decisions, without fear or favour, and regardless of the personality of the party or of the accused before them,” he said.

Thomas said that judges in the past such as Tun Suffian, Raja Azlan and Eusoffee Abdoolcader were rated as luminaries.

“(They) were rated as luminaries by lawyers and academics in Malaysia, and their counterparts outside our shores,” he said.

“Theirs was an international reputation. I suggest that the principle reason why Malaysian judges were held in high esteem during this period was because they were invariably making right, correct or proper decisions according to the evidence and law.”

Thomas said consistency of correct judgments was the key to regaining public confidence in the judiciary.

“If Malaysian judges can reach the correct decisions regularly and consistently over a substantial period of time, you can state with certainty that the confidence, initially of informed legal opinion and, subsequently that of the public in general will return,” he said.

Thomas also said that Tengku Maimun, who was appointed Chief Justice on May 2, had unmatched abilities that would steer the judicial ship to safe and calmer waters.

He said that she had an unimpeachable integrity and was independent.

Her judicial temperament, he said, was excellent, and commended the speed of her decision making.

Tengku Maimun took over from Richard Malanjum who retired last month. – May 17, 2019.