3 judges listed as candidates for AG position

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Attorney-General's Chambers.
SHAH ALAM - Three judges were reportedly considered for the position of attorney-general (AG).

The Star, in a report earlier, said that a highly-placed government source had confirmed that the country would see the appointment of new AG soon, as three names have been shorlisted for the position.

They are Court of Appeal judge, Justice Datuk Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin and High Court judges, Justice Datuk Seri Kamaludin Md Said and Justice Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh.

The news website also said its source revealed that the three names have been submitted to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to be considered before advising the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the appointment for the new AG.

Current AG Tan Sri Idrus Azizan Harun has expressed his intention not to serve the remaining of his contract of service which would end March next year.

Idrus was reappointed as AG for a one-year term last March.

Previously, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali said the extension of the contract was in line with Article 145(1) of the Federal Constitution.

Under Article 145(1), the King shall, on the advice of the prime minister appoint a person qualified to be the Federal Court judge to become the AG.

It was reported that Justice Kamaludi was appointed as a Judicial Commissioner on Nov 1, 2012 and served at the Kuala Lumpur High Court until Sept 11, 2014.

Then, he was elevated as a High Court Judge and then served at the Kuala Lumpur and Seremban High Court until 2018.

Justice Kamaludin was elevated as a Court of Appeal (Appellate and Special Powers) Judge on Apr 27, 2018 and is currently in charge of judicial reviews.

Another possible candidate, Justice Ahmad Fairuz, was deputy chief executive of the Securities Commission (SC) from Apr 1, 2016 to March 29, 2018.

On March 30, 2018, he was appointed as a Judicial Commissioner at the High Court and on March 25 this year, he was confirmed as a full High Court judge at the commercial division.

Justice Wan Ahmad Farid was in the news last June when he recused himself from hearing former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's application to allow Queen's Counsel (QC) Jonathan Laidlaw to represent him in his final appeal in the Federal Court in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case.

Wan Ahmad used to be an active politician and has family members who were still active in Umno.

He was appointed as a Senator in 2008 and was the deputy to the former Home Minister Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar.

He resigned as a Senator to run as a Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate in the Kuala Terengganu by-election in 2009.

However, Wan Ahmad lost the election and resigned from UMNO before pursuing continuing his legal career in 2013.