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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - CJ: Our judiciary is independent woh...</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead vAlign=top><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>kojakbt_89 <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>12:52 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 12) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>30165.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>Mar 16, 2010
System ensures judges stay independent: CJ
He addresses how integrity is maintained in law academy journal
<!-- by line -->By K. C. Vijayan, Law Correspondent
http://www.straitstimes.com/PrimeNews/Story/STIStory_502486.html
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WHEN High Court judges are appointed to the bench, they stay there until they are 65 - unless they choose to leave earlier.
The security this gives them, as well as other safeguards such as immunity from civil suits, forms a protective wall that ensures judges here remain independent.
As for judges in the Subordinate Courts, they need not fear nor favour the Attorney-General - the country's top prosecutor - just because he sits on the board which decides their transfers and promotions.
This is because the board, the Legal Service Commission, is headed by an independent party, the Chief Justice himself.
These are some of the features that ensure the independence of the judiciary, said Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, writing about how such integrity is secured and maintained in the latest issue of the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) Journal.
The article was based on a paper he had presented in Vietnam last November at a conference of chief justices of Asia and the Pacific.
A month before that, he had refuted claims about the Singapore judiciary's lack of independence at a New York State Bar Association meeting held here.
Allegations that the judiciary is complicit have been made from time to time by groups and individuals, including the United States Department of State in its 2008 Human Rights Report.
In the SAL article, the Chief Justice also went to lengths to dispel perceptions that 'non-tenured' judges, like Judicial Commissioners and judges in the Subordinate Courts, may not act independently because their career advancement depends on the Legal Service Commission.
The Attorney-General, the government's chief legal adviser whose staff argue cases before these judges, sits on the commission.
In the case of Judicial Commissioners, the Chief Justice said they were appointed for a short period either to test their competence or to clear a backlog of cases - as is the practice in Malaysia.
'Purists on the concept of judicial independence take the view that there is a risk that such judges may not act independently,' he said.
However, the risks are not significant unless 'temporary judges are brought in for the wrong reasons', such as to secretly test if a candidate will show favour to a certain party before him, rather than act in accordance with the law, Chief Justice Chan said.
In any case, issues about judicial independence may not even arise because most, if not all, of the cases assigned to the Judicial Commissioners do not involve government agencies like the taxman.
Chief Justice Chan also spelt out the role the Chief Justice plays in making sure that judges remain independent.
'He or she establishes the judicial values for the judiciary and sets the direction and 'tone' of the judicial system (i.e. whether it will be a hard, soft or a balanced judicial system, and what the values of the justice system should be),' he wrote.
'The judges look to the Chief Justice for leadership. The public looks to the Chief Justice for justice. To the people, the Chief Justice is the face of justice in the state.'
Lawyers noted there were checks and balances in the system to stem corruption. Senior lawyer R. S. Wijaya said: 'The reality is there are checks and constraints, like appeals to the higher courts if one is unhappy with judgments.'
Singapore Management University assistant professor of law Jack Lee Tsen-Ta said the criticisms being responded to are not new.
Most recently, they were raised in October last year by lawyers Robert Amsterdam and Dean Peroff in their White Paper The Repression Of Political Freedoms In Singapore: The Case Of Opposition Leader Dr Chee Soon Juan.
'The Chief Justice's article is interesting, as while the Government has responded to critics a number of times, we do not often hear the judiciary's take on the issue,' said Professor Lee.
'This itself is an assertion of the judiciary's independence, as it demonstrates that it is capable of responding to criticisms on its own.'
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System ensures judges stay independent: CJ
He addresses how integrity is maintained in law academy journal
<!-- by line -->By K. C. Vijayan, Law Correspondent
http://www.straitstimes.com/PrimeNews/Story/STIStory_502486.html
<!-- end by line -->
<!-- end left side bar --><!-- story content : start -->
WHEN High Court judges are appointed to the bench, they stay there until they are 65 - unless they choose to leave earlier.
The security this gives them, as well as other safeguards such as immunity from civil suits, forms a protective wall that ensures judges here remain independent.
As for judges in the Subordinate Courts, they need not fear nor favour the Attorney-General - the country's top prosecutor - just because he sits on the board which decides their transfers and promotions.
This is because the board, the Legal Service Commission, is headed by an independent party, the Chief Justice himself.
These are some of the features that ensure the independence of the judiciary, said Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, writing about how such integrity is secured and maintained in the latest issue of the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) Journal.
The article was based on a paper he had presented in Vietnam last November at a conference of chief justices of Asia and the Pacific.
A month before that, he had refuted claims about the Singapore judiciary's lack of independence at a New York State Bar Association meeting held here.
Allegations that the judiciary is complicit have been made from time to time by groups and individuals, including the United States Department of State in its 2008 Human Rights Report.
In the SAL article, the Chief Justice also went to lengths to dispel perceptions that 'non-tenured' judges, like Judicial Commissioners and judges in the Subordinate Courts, may not act independently because their career advancement depends on the Legal Service Commission.
The Attorney-General, the government's chief legal adviser whose staff argue cases before these judges, sits on the commission.
In the case of Judicial Commissioners, the Chief Justice said they were appointed for a short period either to test their competence or to clear a backlog of cases - as is the practice in Malaysia.
'Purists on the concept of judicial independence take the view that there is a risk that such judges may not act independently,' he said.
However, the risks are not significant unless 'temporary judges are brought in for the wrong reasons', such as to secretly test if a candidate will show favour to a certain party before him, rather than act in accordance with the law, Chief Justice Chan said.
In any case, issues about judicial independence may not even arise because most, if not all, of the cases assigned to the Judicial Commissioners do not involve government agencies like the taxman.
Chief Justice Chan also spelt out the role the Chief Justice plays in making sure that judges remain independent.
'He or she establishes the judicial values for the judiciary and sets the direction and 'tone' of the judicial system (i.e. whether it will be a hard, soft or a balanced judicial system, and what the values of the justice system should be),' he wrote.
'The judges look to the Chief Justice for leadership. The public looks to the Chief Justice for justice. To the people, the Chief Justice is the face of justice in the state.'
Lawyers noted there were checks and balances in the system to stem corruption. Senior lawyer R. S. Wijaya said: 'The reality is there are checks and constraints, like appeals to the higher courts if one is unhappy with judgments.'
Singapore Management University assistant professor of law Jack Lee Tsen-Ta said the criticisms being responded to are not new.
Most recently, they were raised in October last year by lawyers Robert Amsterdam and Dean Peroff in their White Paper The Repression Of Political Freedoms In Singapore: The Case Of Opposition Leader Dr Chee Soon Juan.
'The Chief Justice's article is interesting, as while the Government has responded to critics a number of times, we do not often hear the judiciary's take on the issue,' said Professor Lee.
'This itself is an assertion of the judiciary's independence, as it demonstrates that it is capable of responding to criticisms on its own.'
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