"Yes, there is a crisis, minister" said lawyers in response to de facto law minister Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz's statement yesterday that there is no crisis in the judiciary nor any scandal involved in the controversial VK Lingam tape.

Nazri yesterday blame the crisis as a manifestation by the opposition parties aimed at influencing the public's perception not to have confidence in the judiciary.

Malaysiakini spoke to lawyers and an academician who unanimously agreed that the crisis is beyond just the video clip and the minister should not be making such statements.

Here are their views:

GK Ganesan, lawyer

I'm surprised by his comment. I think there is nothing to do with the opposition. It's not something cooked up by the opposition. I don't think the opposition is that powerful to come up with something like this. The video is a serious issue.

If the Chief Justice (Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim) is innocent, he has nothing to worry about. The crisis is that public confidence is low, the video suggest political interference and decent judges are getting their names besmirched because of another judge.

The executive cannot set up the panel, the only way to go is though setting up a royal commission under the constitution. In accordance with the idea of separation of powers, the executive cannot question the judiciary. So since parliament is supreme, the government can either setup a select committee to look into this or a royal commission. I can't imagine why the executive decided to set up panel when it has no business in the matter of the judiciary.

Also, the executive and the judiciary have come under question. The video showed that the executive has influence over the judiciary. How can the executive set up a panel to question the judiciary?

Dr Oh Ei Sun, academician

By virtue of Nazri saying "I'm his minister", it implies that the judiciary is subservient to the executive. The role of the civil society and opposition is to check and balance the government of the day. To raise points of doubts is a very valid role for the civil society. Only in a authoritarian society do you not permit civil society and opposition to make comments on public concerns.

Let's look at the 'nude squat' scandal. It is not important that the person was a Chinese national or a Malay woman. What's important was that she shouldn't have been made to nude squat and police should not be treated in such a manner.

Nazri should keep quiet. His position is suppose to be in charge of legal not judicial affairs like matters pertaining to Attorney-General's Chambers - that's fine but it's not fine for him to take care of the judiciary system. Saying the judiciary is subservient to one minister, that is not right. He is only in charge of government's legal affairs.

Chew Swee Yoke, lawyer

We think there is a crisis of confidence. I think for the minister to say there is no crisis is inexplicable and it makes one wonder what needs to happen before he would call it a crisis. For 2,000 lawyers to march shows that there is a problem. It is about time the government does something about it.

There should be royal commission that gives it powers like a court of law. The main thing now is to find out the terms of reference given to the panel. I was in the royal commission of inquiry for (former deputy premier) Anwar Ibrahim's black eye and we were unhappy with the restrictions to the terms of reference which was merely to find out how the black eye was inflicted. I think it should've been much wider than that.

Zarizana Abdul Aziz, lawyer

The government should not prejudge the matter as the video contains serious allegations which demands a full and complete investigation. It should not be dismissed so quickly. I think the government should not take a political stand on this issue. It is premature. They have to take allegations seriously.

The video clip has raised serious questions about what has been alleged. I don't think he should say that the judiciary is this and that. There is a crisis of confidence of the public in this whole issue that has to be addressed. There are serious questions.

The government cannot say it's not true, they should wait for the results of the investigations to bolster public confidence. Lawyers are not jumping into conclusions. They are asking for an investigation and that's what the calls for a royal commission is all about.

Meera Samanther, lawyer

Why do you think we marched? We are in a state of crisis since 1988 when the Salleh Abas was sacked. The independent of the judiciary eroded until we have lost sight of where the judiciary stood. We want investigations into Lingam - not just any investigation, we want the panelists to be independent. What matters is how the panel conducts the inquiry.

If allegations are true - that the buying out or fixing happened - the process of judges appointment must be overhauled. We have heard about it in the pipeline that judges were being fixed for promotions but there has never been any hardcore evidence.

Nazri too is prejudging the issue. We are all waiting for the investigation results. How does he know the conversation did not take place when the investigations has not been done yet?

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