Resign, Karpal tells judge accused of plagiarism...

Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh has called on Court of Appeal judge Abdul Malik Ishak to tender his resignation following an allegation of plagiarism against him.

"This is to save the reputation of the judiciary and country from suffering further embarrassment,” said Karpal, a senior lawyer.

"The right and honourable thing for him to do is to resign, since Justice Malik did not deny (the allegation) when I asked (in two letters to him) before the motion was brought to Parliament.”

Karpal also criticised Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz for shifting the blame to the judiciary, over the absence of action against Justice Malik.

"I think Nazri interpreted the law wrongly for, under Article 125 of the federal constitution, the only way to remove a judge is to hold a tribunal. The chief justice cannot remove a judge as there is no provision for him to do so," Karpal said.

Nazri (left), the de facto law minister, had been asked last Thursday why no action had been taken against the judge, although his predecessor Rais Yatim knew about the allegation.

“We (the executive) cannot interfere in another branch of the government, namely the judiciary. Although the case was brought up, we cannot interfere as this could be interpreted as interference by the executive You should ask the judiciary about this,” Nazri had said, adding the right person to ask was the chief justice.

The complaint had been taken to then chief justice Eusoff Chin in 2000, when Singapore complained that Justice Malik had plagiarised a judgment by one of its judges.

Karpal said the only way a judge could have been removed in 2000 was if the prime minister had moved for the matter to be taken before a tribunal.

This, he said, was done in the case of then Lord President Salleh Abbas, who was removed from his position.

Disciplinary panel now

Today, though, provisions of the Judges Ethics Committee Act 2010 apply. These state that a disciplinary committee can be set up to hear complaints against judges.

Karpal said he had wanted to move for a complaint against former chief justice Zaki Azmi (right) to be heard by the committee.

“However, I had to withdraw my appeal last week, as Zaki had retired,” he said.

On Oct 14, Karpal had submitted a motion to the Dewan Rakyat speaker to refer Justice Abdul Malik to a tribunal.

A week later, Karpal came face to face before the judge in a drug trafficking appeal, and sought his recusal.

The judge agreed to this, fixing another date for the appeal to be heard.

source:malaysiakini

Karpal minta hakim didakwa plagiat letak jawatan

‘Nazri got his law wrong on copycat judge’

Comments by...

Anonymous - In Japan, a judge with similar accusation would have committed hara kiri. Here in this boleh land such culprits move on and in the process get promoted and when retired gets gratuity for plagarism and a hefty pension. They may also be appointed a director of the GLC. No wonder they are so pro-executive. No shame.

Abasir - The chap has been caught "cheating". He has neither put up a defense nor denied the charge. And he is still in office. Could this be due to the new rules/KPI on writing judgements set by the umno judge Zaki? Could the rule be " produce a judgement by fair means or foul but 'produce' something anyway"? And going by the precedent set by another umno judge who 'outsourced' judgement writing to a broker- lawyer, is this all that shocking? Perhaps, Malaysians should start getting used to the norms established by umno and not protest so much. As mahathir is fond of saying, we should not ape western ideas (of plagiarism) but follow our own (twisted) values.

Changeagent - Abdul Malik, please don't resign. Just stay on so that our country's judiciary system can continue to be the laughing stock of the world. There's no need for you to do the right thing by stepping down since there is already no honour, integrity, credibility or decency left in our courts.

Louis - If Justice Abd Malik so loves the judiciary , he should resign. If he hangs on there, it will make matters worst for the judiciary . Already the public has lost so much confidence in the judiciary and with his presence, things will not get any better. Please help the judiciary to regain some of its past glory!!!

Selalunya plagiarisme berlaku di sekolah dan kolej sahaja.Rupa-rupanya di mahkamah pun ada. Hakim pula!!! Agaknya dia ni lulus undang dengan cara plagiat orang punya kot.....

cheers.