PUTRAJAYA: A female Federal Court judge is in line to become the next chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak (CJSS), the fourth highest office in the judiciary, sources said.
If appointed, Rhodzariah Bujang, 61, will become the first woman to occupy the position.
In recent years, women have occupied the other top three judiciary positions in the country, with Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat as the present chief justice.
Rohana Yusuf, who retired recently, was the first woman to be appointed Court of Appeal president, while Siti Norma Yaakob and Zaharah Ibrahim have held the post of chief judge of Malaya.
The other Federal Court judge who is also in the running to be chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak is Abdul Rahman Sebli, 63.
“Either Rahman or Rhodzariah could be appointed, and both are from Sarawak,” a source told FMT, adding that currently, no judge from Sabah sits on the apex court.
A special task which released its report on former attorney-general Tommy Thomas’ book, “My Story: Justice In The Wilderness”, last month, revealed that the Judicial Appointments Commission had in May 2018 recommended Rahman for the post, but David Wong was appointed instead.
Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, who succeeded Wong in February 2020, is the acting Court of Appeal president following Rohana’s retirement.
He is expected to be confirmed in that post, the second highest rung on the judicial ladder, a source said.
Former Federal Court judge Gopal Sri Ram said he would welcome Rhodzariah’s appointment as she is an independent judge.
“She will be sensitive to the wants and the needs of the people in the judicial service from both territories,” he said.
Sri Ram said it was also time for a woman to head the Sabah and Sarawak judiciary as men had been entrusted with that position since the formation of Malaysia in 1963.
Meanwhile, Sabah Law Society president Roger Chin said the Federal Constitution states that the premier of Sarawak and chief minister of Sabah must be consulted before the prime minister advises the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on making such an appointment.
“We are amenable to either Rhodzariah or Rahman holding the position as they are the only two East Malaysians sitting in the apex court,” he said.
However, Chin said there is nothing to stop a Federal Court judge from the peninsula being appointed to that office although that possibility appears to be “remote” at this juncture.
A precedent was set when Federal Court judge Ismail Khan Ibrahim Khan was made the chief justice of Borneo (now CJSS) from 1968 to 1973.