Eusoff Chin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tun Mohd Eusoff Chin is a former chief justice of Malaysia from 1994 to 2000. The Chief Justice of Malaysia (Malay: Ketua Hakim Negara), also known as the Chief Justice of the Federal Court, is the office and title of the head of the Malaysian judiciary system.

[edit] Controversy

In 2008, Eusoff Chin was called to testify in front of a Royal Commission whose purpose was to investigate the allegation of illegal intervention into the judicial appointment process of Malaysian judges purportedly occurred in 2002. The formation of the commission was a follow-up to a recommendation by a three-man panel which was tasked to determine the authenticity of a video clip of a telephone conversation that raised the allegation. It was reported by the Royal Commission of Inquiry that former chief justice Tun Mohd Eusoff Chin meddled in the appointment of judges after his retirement. The analysis of the transcript in the Royal Commission report implied that Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim was Eusoff's nominee.^[1]

The Malaysian Cabinet has ordered the attorney-general to immediately direct agencies to investigate on allegations levelled against six prominent individuals identified in the Lingam video clip. The six are former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, retired chief justices Tun Mohd Eusoff Chin and Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan and prominent lawyer Datuk V.K. Lingam. There was sufficient cause to invoke the Sedition Act 1948, the Prevention of Corruption Act 1961, the Legal Profession Act 1976, the Official Secrets Act 1972 and the Penal Code against some of the principal individuals involved.^[2]

[edit] Prosecution

The Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) has been ordered to reinvestigate former Chief Justice Tun Mohd Eusoff Chin and lawyer V.K. Lingam. The directive came from Attorney-General who wants investigations to be centred on the New Zealand vacation in 1994 when the former top judge and his family were photographed holidaying with Lingam’s family. The investigations will focus on certain issues raised by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the V.K. Lingam video clip. The ACA had in 1998 investigated the case following information from the public but it was ordered closed by the then Attorney-General due to lack of evidence.^[3]