Zainur Zakaria is of the view that retired judges should be appointed together with five Federal Court judges to interview candidates while Ragunath Kesavan feels that those outside the legal sector should be included in JAC.
Zainur said it was best for judges to evaluate their peers in appointments and promotions to the High Court, Court of Appeal and Federal Court.
He drew the parallel of lawyers and engineers sitting on their respective disciplinary boards to determine if their members were guilty of professional misconduct.
“JAC must comprise those who are either superior or of equal standing to potential candidates,” he told FMT.
Zainur said it was not wise to appoint “other stakeholders” like those from civil society as they did not have the expertise to evaluate the integrity and capability of candidates.
“How does appointing those from the civil society help in the appointment and promotion of judges, be it from the Bar, the academia or the Legal and Judicial Service?” he asked.
Instead, he said sitting and ex-judges were in a better position as potential candidates would have appeared before them in court.
He said this in response to incumbent Bar president Steven Thiru’s stand that it was time for JAC to move away from the tradition of judges appointing judges.
Thiru, speaking at the opening of the new legal year last month, said this was to establish a composition that was reflective of society as a whole, now a common practice in other countries.
Thiru said the three bar associations should be consulted when lawyers were considered for appointment as judges.
Currently, the eight-year-old JAC consists of five sitting judges from the Federal Court and four retired judges.
The two-year tenure of the four, also referred to as eminent persons in the JAC Act, comes to an end today (Feb 9).
They are former chief judge of Malaya Haidar Mohamed Noor, former federal court judge Sulong Matjeraie and ex-court of appeal judges Tee Ah Sing and T Selventhiranathan.
Ragunath, who is on the same page with Thiru, said elder statesmen, former diplomats and non-governmental organisation leaders could be appointed as eminent persons to reflect the demands of the public.
Ragunath said a perception would emerge that JAC was an elite organisation in which only ex-judges were appointed to take up the eminent person slots.
“The judiciary has become transparent, accountable and user-friendly over the last few years. So why not also include candidates to represent the layman?” he said.
Ragunath said the judiciary as the third branch of the government was not confined to the bench and the legal profession, adding that it also includes members of society who come to court as litigants to seek legal redress.