Parliament could have resolved ‘Allah’ case

Feb 13, 2015

KUALA LUMPUR: Policy-sensitive cases are best left for politicians to resolve and not through the courts, a retired Court of Appeal judge opined recently.

Justice Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof, who retired on Jan 21, was commenting on the case of the HERALD’s usage of ‘Allah’.

Asked whether the whole appeal should have been heard by the Federal Court when it refused to grant leave (permission) in the highly-sensitive case, he admitted that it is a difficult question to respond to.

Justice Ariff noted that he has personal views on the matter, but declined to elaborate further.

“As an ex-judge, you have to be mindful that you have served in the judiciary, and then you must not do things to diminish the integrity of the judiciary. If other people have decided that one way is right or wrong, I do not think it is proper for an ex-judge to condemn (them).

“Talking generally, there are certain things or areas of life which cannot satisfactorily be decided through the legal method, where the element of policy is very high. No judge could get it 100 per cent right (in such cases) as you cannot satisfy everyone,” he said.

Justice Ariff — who was appointed to the High Court in September 2008 and marked his 66th birthday on Jan 22 — added that there will be continuous discussions or debates on such cases.

Hence, he emphasised that judges have to tread carefully on how they decide those cases, to make sure that they do not stray beyond the narrow confines of the case or the law.

“(In the end,) those cases are best left to politicians to decide (and resolve),” he told several reporters in an exclusive interview following his retirement.

The HERALD’s case had seen an end to the Roman Catholic archbishop’s appeal to use the word ‘Allah’ in its Bahasa Malaysia publication, following the apex court’s decision on not granting leave, and a review of the seven-member bench decision — which was also dismissed last month.

Despite the decision by the apex court, it had not managed to quell the dissatisfaction felt by the Christian community — especially those in Sabah and Sarawak — as they have been using the term in Bahasa Malaysia, for many years, to denote their god.

The highly-charged case has seen many interveners from six state Islamic councils, and other Christian organisations acting as a watching brief. --malaysiakini