Haste makes waste.

Friday, 12th. December, 2008.

I can understand why Dollah is pushing for the Judicial Appointments Commission in a hurried fashion. March is just 90+ days away, and he probably wants to leave one piece of legislation to his name that may be worth something in a worthless administration. Too bad it's only another case of flawed management.

You cannot credit all good ideas with worthy mention just because of the goodness of the idea, without the imperative packaging and presentation, otherwise all pipe dreams become noble designs. A piece of good legislation needs the proper dissertation and the exhaustive examination before tabling for extended debate and eventual approval in Parliament. You simply cannot put together a pile of notes and push them through, hoping they make it in the two readings required by the Legislature to become Law.

Even to-day a former CJ has already gone on record giving serious reservations about the proposed Bill. Certainly his point about someone who could potentially be in conflict while sitting in the proposed Commission merits valuation. This single point alone goes to the heart of the intent of the proposed Commission.

All members of Parliament cannot be expected to rise to the occassion and deal with the shortcomings of a hastily put  bill.  It is only hoped that enough members would pervail to ensure that Parliament is not stuck with a bad law because of the urging of a lame-duck PM. Competent debate is the way to frame competent  evolvement of a truly competent and just body of judges.

That bad judgements have been set down in the past is undeniable. But this has not been the monopoly of the Malaysian experience. It's a worldwide experience. The urgency of applying the remedy is beyond debate. What is highly debatable is the manner of the tabling and comprehensiveness of the bill itself. The reservations sounded by the already increasing number of pertinent voices merit the taking of stock of the bill's passage.

Let's do this thoroughly. Let's not be constrained by the March date. That  was how  bad laws came in the good old days.

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