CLA News / The CLA’s Independent Observer Raja Eileen Soraya Reports on the July Walk to Safeguard Judicial Independence, Malaysia

Monday, 14th July 2025

The events leading up to the Malaysian Bar’s recent call for lawyers to peacefully take to the street[1] were a series of disquiet alarm bells that the Malaysian judicial independence may be under siege.     There were delays in judicial appointments, a significant number of vacancies across all levels of the judiciary[2] and media reports of possible interference in judicial affairs[3].

Prior to the scheduled date and time of the walk, an official rejection to the Bar Council’s customary request to allow adjournments of court cases to enable members of the Bar to participate in the Walk had been issued by the then Acting Chief Justice[4]. The post of Chief Justice had by then been vacant since the retirement of the 16th Chief Justice on 2 July 2025.   The Bar Council then advised members to seek individual postponements from the respective Judges who were hearing their cases[5].

Undeterred, members of the Bar and participants started to assemble in front of the Palace of Justice before noon. The Bar Secretariat and appointed Marshals were reported to have set up in the morning ahead of the scheduled time for the Walk. At around 2.30 pm the office bearers of the Malaysian Bar addressed the crowd and led the Walk from the Palace of Justice, along Persiaran Perdana, towards Putra Square to the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya.

The participants were observed as remaining orderly over the 2.6-kilometre journey and kept to the pedestrian walkway so as not to impede traffic.  The hot tropical afternoon sun beat hard on the participants who walked undaunted in their black jacketed chamber attires. According to the Malaysian Bar, the Walk had a turnout of close to 1,500 individuals comprising of members of the Malaysian Bar, pupils in chambers, representatives of civil society and members of the public.  The atmosphere throughout the Walk was joyous yet resolute, with the occasional chants of “Bebas Kehakiman” (“Free the judiciary”) and “Hidup Kehakiman” (“Live the judiciary”), filling the air. It was clear that the participants were acutely aware of the importance and sobriety of the occasion.

Upon reaching Putra Square, the Bar President led a smaller delegation to the Prime Minister’s Office to hand over a Memorandum[6].  The Director-General of the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister’s Department received the Memorandum in the following terms on behalf of Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

• wherein the Malaysian Bar calls upon judicial leadership positions to be filled as soon as possible by judges of impeccable character, integrity, unblemished reputation, judicial experience and acumen as measured and demonstrated by a record of quality, consistency and clarity in decision making and written judgments, and who command the respect of their peers on the Bench, at the Bar, and the Malaysian public;
• to reiterate our call for the immediate release of the relevant Judicial Appointments Commission meeting minutes and to call for urgent and immediate inquiries into whether or not there was interference in judicial affairs, as was recently referred to in the media, and with regard to our Press Release dated 25 June 2025;
• to renew our call for the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (“RCI”) to investigate whether or not there was any interference with the Judiciary, as referred to in the speech by the former Chief Justice of Malaysia, Tun Tengku Maimun binti Tuan Mat, at the Opening of the Legal Year 2025; and
• to expeditiously fill the numerous vacancies in the Judiciary, which has led to the fixing of some cases for hearing as late as 2030, resulting in significant delays in, if not a denial of, justice — a looming crisis that must be averted immediately.

The President of the Bar Council then returned to the waiting crowd and confirmed that the Memorandum had been delivered and received. The Walk ended in high spirits and with many looking for ice cool drinks.  There was a palpable sense of purpose and pride.

Following the Walk and at the time of reporting, two Judges have been promoted to the Federal Court, six Judges have been promoted to the Court of Appeal and fourteen Judicial Commissioners have been sworn in as High Court Judges[7].   The critical offices of the Chief Justice, President of the Court of Appeal and Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak have all since been duly filled.

The stirring words of a former Bar leader who led the Walk for Justice in 2007 was repeated frequently throughout the day, “When lawyers walk then, something must be very wrong”.

Raja Eileen Soraya

Observer, Commonwealth Lawyers Association

Photo Credit: Jahabar Sadiq

[1]Bar Council Circular No 247/2025 dated 8 July 2025

[2] Judicial Appointments Commission reported 31 vacancies among Superior Court Judges.

[3] “Police report by senior judge involving Malaysiakini leaked”, Malaysiakini, 24 June 2025; “JAC questioned senior judge on alleged judicial interference, says source”, Free Malaysia Today, 24 June 2025.

[4] Bar Council Circular No. 249/2025 dated 9 July 2025

[5] Bar Council Circular No 251/2025 dated 11 July 2025

[6] Bar Council Circular No 247/2025 dated 8 July 2025

[7] After two judges promoted to the Federal Court, six set to be elevated to the appellate court, 14 JCs confirmed as judges”, The Edge, 28 July 2025