JOURNAL JOURNAL OF THE MALAYSIAN JUDICIARY MALAYSIAN THE OF JOURNAL OF THE MALAYSIAN JUDICIARY July 2019 Barcode July 2019 ISSN 0127-9270 JOURNAL OF THE MALAYSIAN JUDICIARY July 2019 JOURNAL OF THE MALAYSIAN JUDICIARY MODE OF CITATION Month [Year] JMJ page ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICE Publication Secretary, Judicial Appointments Commission Level 5, Palace of Justice, Precinct 3, 62506 Putrajaya www.jac.gov.my Tel: 603-88803546 Fax: 603-88803549 2019 © Judicial Appointments Commission, Level 5, Palace of Justice, Precinct 3, 62506 Putrajaya, Malaysia. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any material form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, or storing in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication, without the written permission of the copyright holder, application for which should be addressed to the publisher. Such written permission must also be obtained before any part of this publication is stored in a retrieval system of any nature. Views expressed by contributors in this Journal are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Malaysian Judiciary, Judicial Appointments Commission or Malaysian Judicial Academy. Whilst every effort has been taken to ensure that the information contained in this work is correct, the publisher, the editor, the contributors and the Academy disclaim all liability and responsibility for any error or omission in this publication, and in respect of anything or the consequences of anything done or omitted to be done by any person in reliance, whether wholly or partially, upon the whole or any part of the contents of this publication. ISSN 0127-9270 (bi-annually) Published by Judicial Appointments Commission Level 5, Palace of Justice, Precinct 3, 62506 Putrajaya, Malaysia. Editing, design and layout by THE MALAYSIAN JUDICIAL Academy CHAIRMAN The Rt. Hon. Tan Sri Tengku Maimun binti Tuan Mat Chief Justice MEMBERS The Rt. Hon. Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Ahmad bin Haji Maarop President of the Court of Appeal The Rt. Hon. Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Azahar bin Mohamed Chief Judge of Malaya The Rt. Hon. Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima David Wong Dak Wah Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Justice Dato’ Rohana binti Yusuf Judge of the Federal Court Justice Dato’ Setia Haji Mohd Zawawi bin Salleh Judge of the Federal Court Justice Tan Sri Idrus bin Harun Judge of the Federal Court Justice Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan Judge of the Federal Court Justice Datuk Vernon Ong Lam Kiat Judge of the Federal Court Justice Datuk Dr. Badariah binti Sahamid Judge of the Court of Appeal SECRETARY Mr. Qalam Zainuddin bin Sani Secretary, Judicial Appointments Commission Publication COMMITTEE OF THE Malaysian Judicial Academy MANAGING EDITOR Justice Tan Sri Idrus bin Harun Judge of the Federal Court MEMBERS Justice Dato’ Alizatul Khair binti Osman Khairuddin Judge of the Federal Court Justice Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan Judge of the Federal Court Justice Datuk Dr. Badariah binti Sahamid Judge of the Court of Appeal Justice Dato’ Zabariah binti Mohd. Yusof Judge of the Court of Appeal Justice Mohd. Nazlan bin Mohd. Ghazali Judge of the High Court of Malaya Mr. Qalam Zainuddin bin Sani Secretary, Judicial Appointments Commission Ms. Adibah Al-Husna binti Abdul Rahim Deputy Secretary, Judicial Appointments Commission SECRETARY Ms. Suraiya binti Mustafa Kamal Judicial and Legal Officer OFFICER Ms. Ilham binti Abd Kader Judicial and Legal Officer Mr. Ahmad Afiq bin Hasan Judicial and Legal Officer PANEL OF REFEREES Justice I Gusti Agung Sumanatha, S.H., M.H. Hakim Agung Mahkamah Agung Republik Indonesia Justice Madan Bhimarao Lokur Judge of the Supreme Court India Justice Belinda Ang Judge of the Supreme Court Singapore Justice Brian W Lennox Judge of the Ontario Court of Justice Canada Dato’ Associate Professor Dr. Johan Shamsuddin Sabaruddin Dean, Faculty of Law Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Professor Leong Wai Kum National University of Singapore Singapore David Pittaway QC Head of Hailsham Chambers, London United Kingdom Associate Professor Low Chee Keong CUHK Business School Hong Kong Preface I have great pleasure in placing the seventh issue of the Journal of the Malaysian Judiciary in the hands of our esteemed readers who include judges, lawyers, law teachers, legal and judicial officers and in fact everyone who is in any way concerned with law. As is widely known, the publication of the Journal appeared in its inaugural publication in July 2016. Thereafter, the Journal has been issued twice a year until the publication of this issue. I am indeed extremely gratified to observe that since the Journal’s appearance in July 2016, insightful articles on various interesting areas of law written by judges, lawyers, academicians as well as legal and judicial officers have been published in the Journal. It is hoped that this publication will be found useful not only by judges but also lawyers, law teachers and students. Lastly, I have the pleasant duty of acknowledging with gratitude the writers who have contributed their articles to this publication, members of the Publication Committee of the Malaysia Judicial Academy and officers for their unstinting support and contribution in ensuring the successful seventh publication of the Journal. Justice Idrus Harun Managing Editor CONTENTS Speech by The Right Honourable Chief Justice Tan Sri Tengku Maimun binti Tuan Mat, the Chief Justice of Malaysia, at the Appointment Ceremony of the Chief Justice of Malaysia at the Palace of Justice, Putrajaya on Friday, May 17, 2019 ....................................1 Taming the Unruly Horse: The Treatment of Public Policy Arguments in the Courts The Honourable Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon ................................................7 Conversion of Minors – An Uncertainty No More Justice Dato Rhodzariah Bujang ........................................................................33 Revisit of Delimitation of Constituencies Justice Datuk Yew Jen Kie ..................................................................................46 Enforcement of Liquidated Damages – A Legal Conundrum Resolved? Justice Dato’ Lim Chong Fong ...........................................................................72 The Rights of Accused Persons in Criminal Cases in Malaysia: A Brief Overview Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah ....................................................................107 Competition Law in Malaysia – A Digest of Recent Developments Dato’ Seri Mohd Hishamudin Yunus ..............................................................138 Self-Dealing and No Profit Rules: Companies Act 2016 Past to Present Dato’ Loh Siew Cheang ....................................................................................164 Speech by The Right Honourable Chief Justice Tan Sri Tengku Maimun binti Tuan Mat, the Chief Justice of Malaysia, at the Appointment Ceremony of the Chief Justice of Malaysia at the Palace of Justice, Putrajaya on Friday, May 17, 2019 Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank all the distinguished guests, colleagues, family and friends for making the time to be here this afternoon. I am overwhelmed by your presence. I particularly acknowledge the presence in court of: (i) the President of the Senate, Tan Sri Dato’ Sri SA Vigneswaran; (ii) the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dato’ Mohamad Ariff bin Md Yusof; and (iii) the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law), Tuan Mohamed Hanipa bin Maidin. I believe your attendance signifies the importance of the court as the third branch of government. The mutual respect of the separate arms of government in Malaysia is one of the great strengths of our democracy. You do the court a great honour by your presence today. President of the Court of Appeal, Mr Attorney General, President of the Malaysian Bar, President of the Advocates’ Association of Sarawak and President of the Sabah Law Society, thank you for your kind and generous words. I do not in the least pretend that they are deserved. I am grateful for the pledges of support and commitment you have each extended. Ladies and Gentlemen, It is indeed a privilege and a great honour for me to have been appointed as the first female Chief Justice of Malaysia. And with so many talented and able women in the legal profession, I am confident that I am not the first and the last female Chief Justice of Malaysia. 2 Journal of the Malaysian Judiciary July [2019] JMJ I thank those many women who have preceded me in the legal profession, who, by their integrity, ability and determination have made the passage of women who come later, so much easier. We in Malaysia are fortunate in that we have transcended the gender diversity in terms of the number of female judges in the superior courts, when compared to many other countries in the world, particularly the developed nations. It is one of the areas where we lead in the world. Although it has been achieved over a relatively short period, in the past two decades or so, our progress has been steadily improving. It is important to note that this evolution has not been engineered artificially to achieve these numbers, as a means of demonstrating that a mere gender quota has been met. On the contrary, the evolution has been a natural progression, which has come about purely on the basis of merit. It is for this reason that I said in my initial interview that I should not be defined by my gender, but by merit. However, it must be said that while it is true