THE Human Rights Commission today urged the government not to delay further the establishment of a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into alleged judicial misconduct.

Suhakam said nothing has moved since an announcement in February 2019 following allegations of such misconduct by Court of Appeal judge Dr Hamid Sultan Abu Backer in an affidavit.

“Suhakam reiterates its call for the establishment of a royal commission of inquiry on an urgent basis to look into the allegations of judicial misconduct contained in his (Hamid Sultan’s) affidavit.

“The government had announced in February 2019 that it would establish a RCI to look into the allegations made in the affidavit.

“To date, there seems to be no further developments on the establishment of the RCI,” it said in a statement today.

The establishment of an RCI would allow an open inquiry process and demonstrate the judiciary’s commitment to conduct a thorough and impartial inquiry, said Suhakam.

This would ultimately strengthen the public’s trust and confidence in the justice system, it added.

Hamid Sultan is facing a judges’ ethics committee (JEC) inquiry over his claims of judicial misconduct.

Yesterday, the high court ruled that the inquiry can be held in-camera despite Hamid Sultan’s application to adjourn proceedings before the JEC, pending the Court of Appeal’s decision on his appeal.

Senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambali said the court rejected the application after Hamid Sultan failed to present exceptional circumstances to allow the postponement.

The JEC proceedings will take place behind closed doors at the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya at 3pm tomorrow.

On January 21, Hamid Sultan failed in his application to challenge the JEC’s decision to hold a closed-door inquiry against him.

Hamid Sultan filed an appeal in the Court of Appeal. However, the hearing date has not been fixed. – February 3, 2021.