The top judge said the book was an invaluable guide to principled legal reasoning across diverse fields.

“For scholars, it offers insight into the development of Malaysian jurisprudence during a critical period in our nation’s legal evolution,” he said at the book launch in Bukit Jalil today, which was also attended by former chief justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat.

Wan Farid said law students would find that the book demonstrated what excellent judicial decision-making looks like in practice, while for aspiring judges, the book sets standards by which good judgments should be written.

He said Harmindar’s judgments showed the achievement of a jurist who had brought wisdom and principled reasoning to every corner of the legal system.

Wan Farid highlighted one of Harmindar’s decisions in the case of Shahrudi Abidin v Wira Abu Seman Yusop & Other that revolutionised Malaysian preventive detention law.

“This was not judicial activism, nor was it the creation of law from whole cloth. Rather, it was something far more valuable – the consolidation and strengthening of existing jurisprudence in service of constitutional protections,” he said.

Harmindar retired as a Federal Court judge last year after serving a total of 43 years on the bench, and the judicial and legal service.

Book editor S Saravana Kumar said the book brings together analyses and reflections on a selection of Harmindar’s most significant decisions, spanning areas as diverse as constitutional law, administrative law, criminal justice, and commercial law.

“Each of the 22 chapters aims to illuminate not only the reasoning behind these judgments but also the broader principles and values they advance – fairness, integrity, and fidelity to justice,” he said.