The Political Judgment in the Judiciary System in Malaysia

The Malaysian judiciary is deeply connected with political influence in reality. Malaysia’s democratic system follows upon a government in charge of administration of the country, and has rights to take part in amendments and legislating process of constitutional provisions. Furthermore, the 1988 crisis marked the beginning of the judiciary’s darkest path where the Lord President, Tun Salleh Abas was being removed for the sake of the ruling party at that time. In 2008, the Malaysian government under the former Prime Minister Mahathir Muhammad influenced the judicial institution through constitutional amendment. This paper seeks to address the issues arised through judicial decision making by influence of politics, in ethics, jurisprudence theory and critique on its appropriation to allow political judgement and how Malaysia has overcome the crisis of judicial independence. Our findings conclude that Malaysia has made proper attempts to combat corruption and political influence in the judiciary institution. Although public perception has yet to prevail, in years to come the integrity in the judiciary will increase as the current judicial administration under Yang Amat Arif Tun Tengku Maimun binti Tuan Mat illustrates an honest and fair view of the law for all.