Royal Pardons for Anwar and Najib: is every Royal Pardon really the same?

A royal pardon is not always what it seems. Nor are all pardons born equal. This essay sets Anwar’s legal clean slate against Najib’s trimmed sentence, and asks what that reveals about power, process, and the Malaysian Constitution. Along the way, it shows how two decisions of the Pardons Board produced strikingly different outcomes in law, politics, and public meaning – a tale of delays, denials, and enduring debates.

Read More

Can an insurer cancel or void a policy in the face of MIB – and by when?

In Malaysia, if a car is validly insured when an accident happens, the insurer must pay the victim. Compulsory-insurance legislation, the Motor Insurers’ Bureau Agreements, and consumer-protection reforms now make post‑accident cancellations and technical excuses very difficult. The whole scheme is designed to protect injured people, not insurers’ balance sheets.

Read More

Why did India’s greatest legal mind refuse the Chief Justiceship?

For seven years, he was briefless. Politicians feared his moral courage. He refused the post of CJ. That post would have been his for five and a half years. Yet when Seervai spoke, the Constitution itself seemed to roar. This is the untold story of how one man's unwavering integrity shaped constitutional law across the Commonwealth—and why his final act on Republic Day 1996 was the perfect ending to ...

Read More

Are pension fund managers legally accountable for investment losses?

Billions lost, explanations offered, but contributors still left in the dark. While the EPF assures transparency and blames 'global market volatility', the legal world tells a deeper story. Around the world, pension fund trustees have been sued, sometimes successfully. Discover how courts in the UK, US, and Commonwealth nations deliver justice when public and pension funds go astray — and what it means for every Malaysian who contributes.

Read More

Can a court change the language of a written constitution?

No: only Parliament wields the power to amend the Constitution:(Article 159). Yet deeper currents flow beneath: MA63 protects East Malaysian rights. Any constitutional amendment requires their consent. And it is an international Treaty lodged with the UN. And timeless wisdom echoes: "Why fix what isn't broken?"

Read More

Who guards the Guardians? What happens when the PM has the power to pick judges, but is in conflict?

The PM, the CJ, and other constitutional appointees are all guardians of the Constitution. If one falters, what happens? When a Prime Minister faces a suit in court, yet it is he who must pick the senior judges who will head the judiciary— he is immediately placed in an irreconcilable position of conflict. Three constitutional paths emerge from Malaysia’s deepest democratic paradox. What are they? There is no point in ...

Read More

CJ’s Malta speech defines Democracy: a Government’s legitimacy depends on an Independent Judiciary

Can a judge speak truth about justice without facing negative consequences? Chief Justice Tengku Maimun’s Malta Speech exposed the deepest fractures. It revealed a constitutional cross-road by asking this question: "Will Malaysians choose constitutional rule, or arbitrary power?" What is your answer? It matters.

Read More