NOT An Option

By Pakac Luteb

A lot has been written lately by many parties regarding judicial reform.

The writers focus on independence of the judiciary and the integrity of judges.

Those are absolutely essential components of a judiciary in a
democratic society.

However, they are far from sufficient.

If all the judiciary has is independence and judges who have high
integrity, what will result is decisions that are merely the
administration of law: if someone commits offence X they receive
punishment Y. Justice will be absent.

Laws are made by the Legislature. Members of Parliament, however
noble their intent, may fail to be aware of some consequences of laws
they create.

They may lack the imagination to see the consequences or the situation
causing a particular consequence may not be foreseeable, for example,
the technology involved in the unjust situation may not yet exist when
the law was created.

Sometimes unforeseen consequences can result in great injustice if
laws are blindly administered.

There is a remedy that injects justice into the administration of
laws. It is called a Jury.

Juries inject common sense and flexibility into the administration of
law. They do that with their collective wisdom and intelligence.

Abraham Lincoln reportedly said "You can fool all the people some of
the time and some of the people all of the time, but you can't fool
all of the people all of the time".

That is very true in the case of juries. Jurors are likely to
understand the facts of a case, no matter how convoluted the arguments
of the lawyers.

In addition to juries injecting justice into a judicial system, they
also give credibility to the judicial system and the decisions
reached.

In simple terms, which is less likely to be bribed, coerced or
intimidated into arriving at a particular decison, 1 or 2 judges, or a
jury of 10 (or 12) members of the rakyat?

To have a judiciary in Malaysia that is fit for a democratic society,
trial by jury is NOT an option, it is a necessity.