Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim

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Tun Ahmad Fairuz bin Sheikh Abdul Halim (born November 1, 1941) is the former Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Malaysia. A controversial figure, he held that position from 2003 to 2007. In August 2007, he courted controversy by suggesting the abolishment of English Common Law to be replaced by Islamic Syariah Law.^[1] [1][2]. He was replaced on November 2, 2007 by Abdul Hamid Mohamad as the Chief Justice.

Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Career 2.1 Lingam Tape 'Judicial Fixing' Scandal 3 Personal 4 References

[edit] Early life and education

Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim was born in Alor Setar, Kedah on 1 November 1941. He received his Bachelor of Laws from the National University of Singapore and later obtained his Master of Laws in International and Comparative Laws from the University of Brussels, Belgium.

[edit] Career

He joined the Malaysian Judicial and Legal Service on 4 April 1967 as a Cadet Legal Officer and held various positions such as President of Sessions Court, State Legal Advisor and Chairman of the Advisory Board, Prime Minister's Department. On 1 December 1988 he was appointed Judicial Commissioner of High Court Malaya and was later appointed a High Court Judge. On 1 December 1995 he was elevated as a Court of Appeal Judge until his appointment as a Federal Court Judge on 1 September 2000.^[2]

[edit] Lingam Tape 'Judicial Fixing' Scandal

See video clip: "Lingam Tape".  See Also : Lingam Video Clip

On September 19, 2007, online daily Malaysiakini broke a story on a tape released by former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, where senior lawyer V.K. Lingam was seen talking to someone believed to be the Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz.[3] The grainy eight-minute video footage was taken in 2002 at Lingam’s Kelana Jaya house. At that time, Ahmad Fairuz was the Chief Judge of Malaya (judiciary's No. 3 post).

The video showed Lingam expressing concern that the outgoing CJ Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah was moving his 'men' into top judiciary posts. The conversation revolved around the urgent need to get Ahmad Fairuz appointed as Court of Appeal President (No. 2) and then Chief Justice (No. 1). Lingam expressed his plan to get tycoon Vincent Tan, a close ally of then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, and Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, a minister in PM's Department to talk to Mahathir on the appointment of judges.

On November 17, 2007, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced that a Royal Commission would be set up to investigate the matter. Ahmad Fairuz has, however, denied his involvement.http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/73030]

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam video clip has found that it was former Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim who was talking to prominent lawyer Datuk V.K. Lingam on the telephone. Sources said the five-man panel also found that the video clip was authentic and that the conversation was true in substance. However, as to how they came to that particular conclusion has been criticised by numerous parties as the alleged conversation was a monologue and there was no way to confirm who was on the other end of the line. They could not trace the phone calls had come from Ahmad Fairuz, neither could they make a connection between the two as even Lingam's secretary testified that to her knowledge Ahmad Fairuz had never tried to contact Lingam at his office. They said the commission also found that it was lawyer Loh Mui Fah who Lingam was speaking to after his telephone conversation. However, Loh Mui Fah's credibility was not questioned during the proceedings because the royal commission decided to suppress any documents against Loh Mui Fah.

Commission chairman Tan Sri Haidar Mohamed Noor presented a two-volume report on the findings to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin at the Istana Negara here yesterday. [3]

[edit] Personal

He is married to Mazni bt Mohd Noor and they have two children.

[edit] References