MY Weltanschauung VALUATION!!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE!!! ...We Are NOT Living in UTOPIA

" JUSTICE is KNOWING the JUDGES who DECIDES,
DEMOCRACY;
is KNOWING the PEOPLE who COUNTS the VOTES "



Much brouhaha have been said about the importance of Judicial Independence (JI). The notion sounds good and appeals to the hoi polloi but, the fact remains that Judicial Independence as a concept is USELESS if the judges aren't impartial.


In MALAYSIA, the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) is supposed to be the first step towards JI.....but even then who can say to a science that the judges nominated won't be biased based on the premise of religion, race, culture, experience, sex or age!


In USA...the so-called benchmark by Hollywood aficionados as a being bastion of JI, selection/nomination of judges to the Supreme Court is based on which party(Democratic or Republican) is holding power. Republicans tend to nominate judges who are more conservative and pro-life whilst Democrats will be skewed towards nominating liberal and pro-choice judges. One can argue till the cows come home but, can anyone prove that the judges nominated are impartial? With an average age of 68 who dare argue that they won't be biased towards the young! Coincidentally, the USA was home to the first recorded terrorist in the modern world.

In UK...who can prove or disproves the notion that Law lords and judges are not biased in favour of English culture and conservatism when deciding cases involving cross-culture matters. Even the term "LAW LORDS" smacks of the "hollier than thou" attitude....as if they were a cohorts of Demi-Gods!


JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE remains an illusion which is an abstract in concept unless a judge's impartiality can somehow be solidified. JI.....Anywhere in the WORLD???
......COME ON! Unless, I've died and when to heaven....or, am dreaming of Utopia and Shangri la in the same dream.

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