KUALA LUMPUR – The tables were somewhat turned last week, when two top legal minds attended court – and took their seat in the witness box.
Former chief justice Tun Zaki Azmi, 76, and former Federal Court judge and attorney-general Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali, 71, gave evidence – as a witness and plaintiff, respectively – in separate trials.
The two men, who have sat on the bench on numerous occasions, shared their experience of testifying from the witness box.
Zaki, who was chief justice for three years from 2008, laughed when asked if he felt nervous testifying before a judge for the first time as a witness.
“No, not nervous, but I was a little anxious. As a judge, I was used to sitting on the bench. As a lawyer, I was used to sitting where the counsel usually sat.
“However, last Wednesday, I sat in the witness box,” said Zaki, who was a lawyer before being appointed Federal Court judge in September 2007, the first such direct appointment in Malaysia’s judicial history.
He said it was an interesting experience, as well as a historic moment, for him to testify in court.
“My first attendance in court was in 1987, when I was a lawyer. Last week, I attended court as a witness.
“It was an interesting and great experience waiting in the witness room with the other witnesses before being called in to testify. As a former chief justice in Malaysia (and a chief justice in) Dubai, it was a historic moment for me.”
It is a story not many judges or lawyers can tell their grandchildren, he added.
In November 2018, Zaki was appointed chief justice of the Dubai International Financial Centre Courts, which deal with civil and commercial disputes in one of the world’s leading financial hubs.
On Wednesday, Zaki was the sixth prosecution witness at the sessions court in the trial of former Sabah infrastructure development minister Datuk Peter Anthony, who faces charges of using false documents relating to a system maintenance contract.
He testified in his capacity as chairman of the Universiti Malaysia Sabah board of directors from April 3, 2013 to July 31, 2018.
Meanwhile, Apandi, now a practising lawyer, was a Federal Court judge prior to his appointment as AG in 2015.
He said it was his first time testifying in court, and sees it as a great experience.
“I did not feel nervous because the courts have been my playground. I am used to attending court every day. I am used to seeing witnesses take their oath and give evidence.
“I was calm and cool when I testified.”
Apandi, who was AG from July 27, 2015 to June 4, 2018, testified in the trial of his defamation suit against DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang before high court judge Datuk Azimah Omar. – Bernama, April 12, 2021
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