Ramkarpal Singh said there was a need to overhaul the Judicial Appointments Commission Act 2009 (JAC Act 2009), adding that the prime minister’s power to reject recommended judges must be removed to prevent any perception of executive interference.

“The JAC appointments process needs urgent reform to ensure that the perception of executive influence in appointing judges is eliminated,” Ramkarpal told FMT.

He said failure to act could undermine public confidence in the judiciary, pointing to the 1988 judicial crisis, when the government sacked former lord president Salleh Abas and two Supreme Court judges, triggering a constitutional crisis.

In the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, the Bukit Gelugor MP acknowledged improvements in the judiciary, including high-profile convictions such as those in the 1MDB scandal, and the country’s rise in the Rule of Law Index, from 78th place in 2016 to 55th in 2022.

However, he warned that the perception of executive interference in judicial appointments remained a serious concern.

Elaborating on the point he had made in the Dewan Rakyat, Ramkarpal said the JAC Act 2009 allowed the prime minister to reject judicial candidates recommended by the JAC and request alternative names.

“This raises fears of political interference,” he said.

He also questioned the appointment of former attorneys-general as judges, asking if such appointments were appropriate.

His concerns come just weeks after Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat touched on judicial independence in her Opening of the Legal Year 2025 speech.

Tengku Maimun warned against executive influence in judicial appointments, recalling the damaging effects of the 1988 judicial crisis and the VK Lingam scandal, where political connections allegedly influenced judicial promotions.

She said the public could not be expected to have confidence in the judiciary if they perceived that judges were appointed based on political interests.