Members of the bar who represent the public who are

Members of the Bar, who represent the public who are litigants before the
courts and who are therefore 'consumers' of the justice system, must surely be
regarded as a crucial assessor of judicial performance. No system can enjoy public

11
confidence if the opinion of its very own consumers is ignored. Transparency is not a
matter for lip – service. Transparency is true only when it is practiced. Absence of
transparency and lack of consultation will do nothing to dispel any perception that
judicial promotions might be based on subjective favoritism, or, worse still, might be a
form of reward to a selected few, unguided by relevant and proper considerations. In the
present context and as an illustration, it is a matter of public record that the five most
se nior Court of Appeal judges are Dato’ Gopal Sri Ram, Datuk Hj. Mokhtar Sidin, Datuk
Denis Ong Jiew Fook, Dato’ Abdul Hamid Hj. Mohamad and Dato’ Hj. Abdul Kadir
Sulaiman; whereas the five most senior High Court judges are Dato’ Faiza Tamby Chik,
Dato’ James Foong, Datuk Ian Chin Hon Chong, Dato’ Azmel b. Hj. Maamor and Datuk
Vincent Ng Kim Khoay. If these senior judges are bypassed in promotions in favor of
junior ones, there must exist very cogent and relevant reasons which must be disclosed
and fully explained to the public. Anything less than a full and convincing explanation
will immediately damage public confidence in the administration of justice. The Bar will,
if necessary, call an Extraordinary General Meeting to discuss the matter. The public
must also be engaged in an open and constructive discussion of this issue of
paramount importance. It must be remembered that the Judiciary is one of our most
important national assets; and every citizen has a stake in it.
In all the states, the promotion guidelines are mentioned in the Rules made by the
Governor (in case of states) or by the President (in case of union territories) in exercise
of the powers conferred by the Constitution. In some states like Chhattisgarh, Madhya
Pradesh, New Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, there are two different rules, one to deal with
higher judiciary [district judges office] and the other meant for the lower judiciary [civil
judges (junior division) office and senior civil judges office]. In other states, there is a
single Rule to deal with all the offices of judicial officers. In all the states, the post of civil
judges (junior division) is filled by direct recruitment. The civil judges (junior division) are
promoted as senior civil judges usually based on the principle of merit cum seniority (or
seniority cum merit) but sometimes, the promotions are also made on the principle of
merit (in Maharashtra). The senior civil judges are promoted as district judges. Apart

12
from this, the district judges are also directly recruited through a competitive
examination.