THE president of the Malaysian Bar today proposed that the retirement age of judges be increased to 70 years. The current age limit is 65.

Karen Cheah said that many jurisdictions across the globe had set the retirement age at 70.

“In fact, in some countries, there were proposals for the retirement age to be increased to 75 or even 80.

“The Malaysian Bar urges the government to make constitutional amendments to give effect to this important reform,” Cheah said in her speech at the opening of the Legal Year 2023 in Putrajaya today.

Earlier, Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, when giving her speech at the same event, pointed out that she is set to retire in 2025.

On another matter, Cheah urged the government to work with the Pardons Board to ensure that more than 1,300 convicted persons currently on death row are also spared the death penalty.

She said these prisoners should not be allowed to linger in prison uncertain of their fate. At present, there is a moratorium on the execution of death row inmates.

“It is an inhumane way of treating convicts on death row,” she said.

Cheah also said as Malaysia progressed democratically, it must shift away from killing people in the name of justice.

She said these convicts deserve some baseline protection.

“We, therefore, welcome the announcement that the mandatory death penalty will be done away with in respect of 11 offences carrying such sentences, with the discretion as to sentencing returning to the unfettered domain of the judiciary,” she said. – Bernama, January 9, 2023.