Constitutional Monarchy, Rule of Law and Good Governance Officially launched by The Right Honourable Lord Woolf, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, in the presence of Their Royal Highnesses Sultan Azlan Shah and Tuanku Bainun, and His Royal Highness Raja Nazrin Shah on 13 April 2004, Kuala Lumpur. Constitutional Monarchy, Rule of Law and Good Governance Selected Essays and Speeches SultanHRH Azlan Shah PROFESSIONAL LAW BOOKS Professor Dato’ Seri Visu Sinnadurai Editor 2004 published by Professional Law Books Sweet & Maxwell Asia 45-17, First Floor (a division of Thomson Asia Pte Ltd) Block C, Plaza Damansara 17, Jalan PJS 7/19 Jalan Medan Setia 1 Bandar Sunway Bukit Damansara 46150 Petaling Jaya 50490 Kuala Lumpur Selangor Darul Ehsan Malaysia Malaysia © Professional Law Books Publishers 2004 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers. Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Azlan, Muhibuddin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Yusuf Izzuddin Shah, Sultan, 1928– Constitutional monarchy, rule of law and good governance: selected essays and speeches/ editor Visu Sinnadurai Includes index ISBN 983-2631-27-0 1. Monarchy—Malaysia. 2. Constitutional law—Malaysia. 3. Malaysia—Kings and rulers—Succession. 4. Speeches, addresses, etc. I. Sinnadurai, Visu, Dato’ Seri, 1944– 321.87026595 Typeset by Compass Creative Sdn Bhd, Malaysia Printed by Print & Co Sdn Bhd, Malaysia Editor’s Preface and Acknowledgements his volume contains a selection of the leading public lectures and speeches primarily in the area of law that were delivered by His TRoyal Highness Sultan Azlan Shah. It also includes two essays written by His Royal Highness—one on The Role of Constitutional Rulers, and the other, which appears as the Postscript to this book entitled The Role of Constitutional Rulers and The Judiciary: Revisited, written specifically for this book. The lectures, speeches and essays have been edited so as to follow a book structure. Whilst the lectures and essays have generally been reproduced in their original form, the many speeches delivered by His Royal Highness have been amalgamated and edited into certain thematic topics, and appear as specific chapters. All lectures, speeches and essays, have also been edited so as to conform to standard house-style. In some chapters, editor’s notes, which act v vi Constitutional Monarchy, Rule of Law and Good Governance as an update to some of the materials contained in the chapters, have been added. Where the updates are themselves covered by His Royal Highness in the Postscript, cross-references are made to the Postscript in the relevant part of the chapter. The book contains two other features: The first consists of certain significant quotes of His Royal Highness Sultan Azlan Shah. These quotes, mainly on certain important aspects of the law, are drawn either from the various chapters contained in the book, or from important judgments delivered by His Royal Highness during his tenure on the Bench. Secondly, chapters in the book have been interspersed with certain aspects of His Royal Highness’s biography, classified under certain key subject headings, including his judicial career, contribution to higher education, development of the law, and a list of the national and international recognition accorded to His Royal Highness. The editing and compilation of this book was undertaken at the same time as the book that now appears as The Sultan Azlan Shah Law Lectures: Judges on the Common Law, Professional Law Books and Sweet & Maxwell, 2004. The publication of both these books would not have been possible without the assistance of many. His Royal Highness Sultan Azlan Shah took a personal interest in the publication of this book and gave many constructive comments. His Royal Highness Raja Nazrin Shah gave me the same support and encouragement as he did with the first book. To both Their Royal Highnesses, I am most grateful for their gracious involvement in the publication of the book. Their personal interest was a great inspiration to me. editor’s preface and acknowledgements vii Joel Ng of Genesis Publishing Services again acted as my co- editor to this book. For his tremendous work and patience, I owe him a great debt of gratitude. I must thank Faisal Ariff Rozali-Wathooth and Kyle Sanderson, undergraduates from Cambridge University and University of London respectively, who were both in Kuala Lumpur during their summer vacation to assist me in editing the book. With high spirits and enthusiasm, both of them undertook their daunting tasks and responsibilities. Devaraj Letchumanan and Kevin Ooi of Sweet & Maxwell rendered a great deal of assistance, particularly, in providing invaluable comments on the layout and design of the book. Kevin, with his vast experience, also undertook the final proofreading of the manuscripts. I also thank Emily Yung for her artistic and professional manner in doing the artwork for some of the pictures that appear in this book. Andrew Wong of Compass Creative again did the design and artwork for this book. With the many and constant changes that were made to the design, his patience and skill are much appreciated. I also record my appreciation to Puddingburn Publishing Services of Australia for preparing the Index; and Sally Kee for preparing the Table of Cases and Table of Legislation. Professor Dato’ Seri Visu Sinnadurai Editor Kuala Lumpur 5 March 2004 Table of Contents Editor’s Preface and Acknowledgements v Table of Cases xiii Table of Legislation xxv Biography of His Royal Highness Sultan Azlan Shah xxxv Introduction 1 1 Supremacy of Law in Malaysia 13 Tunku Abdul Rahman Lecture XI 2 Climates of Freedom 37 Conference on the Malaysian Constitution ix x Constitutional Monarchy, Rule of Law and Good Governance 3 The Right to Know 51 Public Lecture, Universiti Sains Malaysia 4 Parliamentary Democracy 89 Aliran Seminar 5 Checks and Balances in a Constitutional Democracy 101 Harvard Club of Malaysia 6 Corporate Activity: Law and Ethics 127 Malaysian Institute of Management 7 Corporate Misconduct: Crime and Accountability 151 Harvard Business School Alumni Club of Malaysia 8 Engineers and the Law: Recent Developments 171 Institution of Engineers, Malaysia 9 Medicine, Ethics and the Law 219 The 8th Tun (Dr) Ismail Oration 10 The Role Constitutional Rulers 251 An Essay table of contents xi 11 The Judiciary: The Role of Judges 289 A Selection of Speeches 12 The Legal Profession and Legal Practice 313 A Selection of Speeches 13 Law and Globalisation: Some Perspectives 337 Selected Speeches to the Malaysian Students’ Law Society in the United Kingdom and Eire 14 The New Millennium: Challenges and Responsibilities 367 Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Postscript The Role of Constitutional Rulers and The Judiciary: Revisited 385 An Essay Index 407 Table of Cases AG for Australia v R and Boilermaker’s A Society of Australia [1957] AC 288 105 AG for Victoria v The Commonwealth (1935) 52 CLR 533; [1935] ALR 246, HC 105 Agip (Africa) Ltd v Jackson Bowers [1991] 1 Banking Law Review 23 (CA) 140 Ah Thian v Government of Malaysia [1976] 2 MLJ 112, FC 18 Anns and others v Merton London Borough Council [1977] 2 All ER 492, [1978] AC 728; [1977] WLR 1024, HL 202, 207 Arab-Malaysian Finance Bhd v Steven Phoa Cheng Loon & Ors & other appeals [2003] 2 AMR 6; [2003] 1 MLJ 567; [2003] 1 CLJ 585, CA 212 Attorney-General of Hong Kong v Ng Yuen Shiu [1983] 2 WLR 735; [1983] 2 AC 629; [1983] 2 All ER 346, PC 72 xiii xiv Constitutional Monarchy, Rule of Law and Good Governance Ayer Molek Rubber Co Bhd v Insas Bhd [1995] 3 AMR 2098; [1995] 2 MLJ 734; [1995] 3 CLJ 359, CA; [1995] 2 MLJ 833, FC 399 B (a minor), Re [1987] 2 All ER 206; [1988] AC 199; B [1987] 2 WLR 1213, Fam Div, CA, HL 238 B Surinder Singh Kanda v Government of Malaya [1962] AC 322; [1962] 2 WLR 1153; (1962) 2 PCC 209, PC (Malaysia) 69 BA Rao v Sapuran Kaur & Anor [1978] 2 MLJ 146, FC 52, 77, 305 Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee [1957] 2 All ER 118; [1957] 1 WLR 582, QBD 237, 243 Bray v Ford [1896] AC 44, HL 134 British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd v Armstrong Patents Co Ltd [1986] AC 577; [1986] 2 WLR 400; [1986] 1 All ER 850, HL 175 C (a minor) (wardship: medical treatment)(No 1), Re C [1989] 2 All ER 782; [1989] 3 WLR 240, CA 230 Chan Cheng Kum v Wah Tat Bank Ltd [1971] 1 MLJ 177; (1971) 2 PCC 681, PC (Singapore) 190, 191 Charterbridge Corp v Lloyds Bank Ltd [1970] Ch 62; [1969] 3 WLR 122; [1969] 2 All ER 1185, Ch D 132 Chartered Bank, The v Yong Chan [1974] 1 MLJ 157, FC 193, 327 table of cases xv Che Omar bin Che Soh v Public Prosecutor [1988] 2 MLJ 55; [1988] 1 SCR 73, SC 283 Chelmsford DC v Evers (1983) 25 Build LR 99 187 Cheng Keng Hong v The Government of the Federation of Malaya [1966] 2 MLJ 33, HC 191, 192 Chokolingo v Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago [1981] 1 All ER 244; [1981] 1 WLR 106, PC 120 Clayton v Woodman & Sons (Builders) Ltd [1962] 2 QB 533; [1962] 1 WLR 585; [1962] 2 All ER 33, CA 198 Conway v Rimmer [1968] AC 910; [1968] 2 WLR 998; [1968] 1 All ER 874, HL 77 Council for Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil Service [1984] 1 WLR 1174; [1985] AC 374; [1984] All ER 935, HL 72 D & F Estates Ltd and Others v Church Commissioners D for England and Others [1988] 2 All ER 992; [1989] AC 177; [1988] 3 WLR 368, HL 194, 197, 203, 204, 205, 206, 211, 212 Dato Menteri