Tag: court

Categories
Liberty Society

[2196] Of discrimination and safety helmet

Please do not get me wrong. Being a generally risk-adverse person, I will wear a safety helmet if I ride a motorcycle.

This however is quite different from objecting to government mandating the wearing of safety helmet for motorcyclists, or cyclists. The fact that that mandate coincides with my preferred action of wearing safety helmet does not legitimize the mandate. This is one of those little things that a typical libertarian holds. Libertarianism can be axiomatic at times and the demand for logical consistency demands embrace of such opposition to government mandate.

While I do hold this ideal, I do think those who refuse to wear helmet are stupid, given the risk associated with riding a motorcycle. I in fact rarely argue for it because it is trivial and can be silly at times. It is clear that the convenience of coincidence erodes my temptation to argue against the mandate. Yes, in that sense, I am a cafeteria libertarian.

Why am I talking about safety helmet?

Well, this report reminds me of an old case about safety helmet:

TUMPAT, April 22 — The magistrate’s court here today acquitted five students of a religious school for riding motorcycles without wearing crash helmets, but turbans, two years ago.

Magistrate Raja Norshuzianna Shakila Raja Mamat ordered the students to be released after finding that the defence had cast a doubt on the case.

The students, Adli Abd Halim, 22, Ahmad Hafiz Shaari, 24, Mohd Hafizul Mohamad, 22, Mohd Azam Mohd Arifin, 24, and Che Mohd Noor Che Soh, 28, of the Pondok Al-Madrasah Ad-Diniah Al-Yusufiah, an Islamic religious schools in Gelang Mas here, were caught riding motorcycles without wearing crash helmets about 12.30am at Neting, here, on April 28, 2008 after performing funeral prayers at a mosque nearby. [Turban-clad Religious Students Freed For Riding Motorcycles Without Crash Helmets. Bernama. April 22 2010]

When it first appeared, I secretly sided with them (five motorcyclists) due to my libertarian stance. Still, I thought they were stupid.

What surprised me is that these guys won the case. Won!

The libertarian in me laughs in delight.

The libertarian in me is also shocked by its possible implication to rule of law.

Now, I do not know the case went. I am unsure how the defense “cast doubt on the the case.” Incompetent prosecutors, maybe? I do not know. My only piece of information is that Bernama article. I am going to be lazy and not do any more research on the matter, just to fit the bill of a responsible blogger.

Still, I hope they won they case not because they wore turbans.  If it that is the case, then my question will be what is so special about turban-wearers?

If turban wearers could get away with this, this would discriminate against those who refuse to wear safety helmet and turban.

I, as a non-turban wearer, demand equality before the law!

Okay, that was me tongue-in-cheek.

Or was I?

Categories
Liberty Politics & government

[2155] Of damage to sanctity of right to private property, undone

Assume that I own an item. Somebody impersonates me and pretends to be the rightful owner of the item. The impersonator then sells the item to another bone fide buyer. To me, that transaction is clearly illegal. It violates rights to the idea of private property, one of the main pillars of libertarianism. But one does not need to be a libertarian to understand that that is utterly wrong. Fraud is always wrong. But a certain judge, Eusoff Chin, in 2000 ruled otherwise.

Roger Tan Kor Mee wrote an insightful article at Loyak Burok on the matter:

Briefly, in Adorna Properties, a Thai, Boonsom Boonyanit, who resided in Thailand was the registered proprietor of two lots land in Tanjung Bungah, Pulau Pinang (”the said lands”). An impostor, one Mrs Boonsoom Boonyanit, claiming to be ”Sun Yok Eng @ Boonsom Boonyanit” had affirmed a statutory declaration on June 18, 1988 that she had lost the original title to the said lands. The impostor then managed to obtain a certified copy of the title from the land office.

On April 6, 1989, the impostor affirmed a second statutory declaration declaring that the names Mrs Boonsoom Boonyanit and Sun Yok Eng @ Boonsom Boonyanit in the title to the said lands were one and the same person, that is Mrs Boonsoom Boonyanit (impostor) with a different Thai passport number. With this declaration, the impostor managed to register the transfer in favour of Adorna for a sum of RM 12Million.

Boonyanit then sued for the return of the said lands. The High Court Judge of Penang, Justice Vincent Ng Kim Khoay, ruled in favour of Adorna (judgment dated April 25, 1995). On appeal, the Court of Appeal, comprising Gopal Sri Ram, Siti Norma Yaakob and Ahmad Fairuz, allowed the appeal in its judgment dated March 17, 1997. Adorna then appealed, and the Federal Court comprising Eusoff Chin, Wan Adnan Ismail and Abu Mansor Ali allowed Adorna’s appeal in its judgment dated Dec 13, 2000 and pronounced in open court on Dec 22, 2000 (”main judgment”), but by then Boonyanit had passed away in May that year. [Can landed property be validly transferred land using a forged instrument? Roger Tan Kor Mee. Loyar Burok. January 20 2010]

But even if the law actually justified the year 2000 ruling, then the law has to be deeply flawed and repulsive to the notion of justice. It practically legalizes robbery. Is such law deserving of adherence?

It is therefore highly comforting for me to learn that the Federal Court today overturns that despicable ruling, restoring ownership of the land to its rightful owner.

PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court on Thursday departed from its judgement nearly 10 years ago in the Adorna Properties Sdn Bhd vs Boonsom Boonyanit case, plugging a loophole in the law to thus allow landowners who lost their land through fraudulent means to redeem their right to the property.

In its landmark unanimous ruling, the five-man bench led by Chief Justice Zaki Azmi held that land transferred by fraudulent means will no longer be legally accepted. [Federal Court reverses its decision in landmark land case. The Star. January 21 2010]

Alas, the rightful owner is already dead.

Still, it is righting a wrong and it preserves the sanctity of right to private property. That, is something to celebrate for.

Categories
ASEAN Society

[2014] Of between justice, welfare of children and Indonesia

I blew up this morning when I read a legal counsel of a person who grievously harmed another person requested for the judge to show leniency. The lawyer reasoned that the perpetrator is a single mother, implying that the welfare of her two children is at risk if the system punishes her too harshly. The audacity shown by the lawyer is deplorable.

KUALA LUMPUR: A former real estate agent has claimed trial in the Sessions Court to hurting her Indonesian maid Siti Hajar Sadli with hot water, a hammer and scissors.

[…]

Counsel M. Manoharan, however, asked the court to consider his client’s status as a single mother and that she has two young children, including an autistic son, to take care of. [Real estate agent claims trial to charges of abuse and failing to get work permit. M. Mageswari. The Star. June 19 2009]

I want to make it clear that I would like the law to apply the greatest of weight against the single mother for the physical harm she inflicted on her maid, a fellow human being. This however does not mean the welfare of her children should not be factored in any judgment.

It is utterly unfair to punish innocent children indirectly for a crime committed by others. Yet, this is a regrettable negative externality the children and our society have to suffer.

The role of the society here is not to eliminate that negative externality — assuming the single mother is a good mother; an assumption I take only with heavy heart — but to try to limit it. Elimination of that negative externality means letting the criminal that she is off the hook. That will offer bad example to others who are  or plan to show no respect for another human being’s safety. Strong, forceful signal has to be sent by the system so that others will think twice about hurting another human being, specifically against foreign maids within our context.

By limiting, I mean to suggest that the State has to find a way to ensure the welfare of the children are taken care of. One way, which I most prefer, is to a find relative of the mother who is willing to take the children in and take for them. If that fails, the State may find family or individuals with good record and financial standing who wants to explore the option of adoption. If all else fails, the State simply, unfortunately, have to take care of the children. This perhaps stresses on the importance of a care system for children but that is a huge issue that deserves an essay of its own that I will not discuss further here.

Finally, I want to digress but yet make an important point. Any decision of the court gives signal not only to Malaysian society and particularly to employers who treat their maids subhumanly. It will also give signal to Indonesia. Malaysia already has a bad reputation in Indonesia for, among others, this kind of crime committed on their citizenship who come to Malaysia in search of better life. Already, nationalistic Indonesians are clamoring for proverbial Malaysians blood. Any leniency will unnecessarily fuel that nationalistic sentiment. But of course, the court should not consider populism as a factor in deciding a case.

And that is okay. Justice simply will have to be served and the mother punished.

Categories
Politics & government

[1979] Of it is just a stay and a need for injunction

There are multiple questions which raise unhelpful suspicion after single-judge bench granted Zambry with a stay. But a stay remains a stay. A stay is simple a temporary suspension of execution. In the context of Perak, it means a temporary suspension pending decision on the requested appeal by Zambry to the Federal Court against High Court decision made yesterday. It is not an overturn.

In all honesty, that is fair.

Everybody, either for or against the High Court ruling, should take a deep breath and not get too overly excited. The ultimate decision has yet to be made.

In the meantime, while I am not educated in the legal field, I do feel that the next step for Nizar is to file for an injunction to prevent Zambry from using the power of the Menteri Besar Office to do anything else. Just as the stay is fair, an injunction will ensure both sides are being fair.

It is only fair if both sides refrain from doing anything detrimental to the position of both side.

Categories
Politics & government Science & technology

[1978] Of Twitter finally arrived in Malaysia

Away from the chaos on the streets of Ipoh and within the hall of Perak state assembly, a storm of short messages kept coming in, flashing and distributing the latest developments faster and wider than anything imaginable in the past.

Enter Twitter.

This is yet another sign of evolution within the already hyperactive Malaysian Internet community.

Truth be told, Twitter is not new among young techno-savvy Malaysians who are always ahead of the curve. Indeed, Twitter is a phenomenon in the US. In Malaysia itself, online press organizations like The Malaysian Insider, Nut Graph, Malaysiakini and even The Star Online do use Twitter.

Furthermore, its potential has been proven. For instance, in Moldova just weeks ago, Twitter played a crucial role in mobilizing a large successful protest against the Communist Party. In times of confusion as people kept wondering what was going on, Twitter was Mercury in that eastern Europe country.

Despite that, its importance did not impress too many Malaysians. That is, until May 7, 2009.

It started quite early in the morning. News of arrests was coming in but it came in slow through various blogs. Online news portals also were contributing but for them, extraordinary heavy traffic was taking its toll. Bandwidth demand spiked as demand spiked. Everybody wanted the latest news, even when there was none to be told.

People just kept refreshing like how that generation of gamers old enough to play the game Diablo on their computer kept clicking their mouse to whack on those devils running loose in a sprawling dark dungeon complex.

Multiple page reloads by thousands were beginning to frustrate both readers and administrations of portals alike. For bloggers, live blogging too was not enough. At the same time, Google Reader was amazingly relatively quiet when such an important event was unfolding in Ipoh.

For those on the ground, they needed something which they could post very quickly through their mobile application. Blogs just would not do. Forget about other more sophisticated content management systems. Those systems were too bulky.

“There has to be some other way to do this.”

That was probably what many were thinking. And yes, the answer is yes, there is.

Twitter is the way. It was time for live micro-blogging. Just type fewer than 140 characters into the Twitter account through any desktop, laptop or phone and Twitter will do everything else.

On Twitter, updates on Perak were up to the minute. It was more frequent than anything on any website. Those on Twitter were becoming the most well-informed observers of the May 7 fiasco, only next to those on the ground Twittering their tweets away to Twitter.

Oh, in case you were born yesterday, or rather, hundreds of years ago, tweets are Twitter updates. They are much like a post of a blog except shorter and crunchier.

From Twitter, messages were replicated across the Twitter universe, to Facebook, later to the blogosphere and online news portals.

Whatever the online media planned to publish — with the exception of their tweets — was yesterday news. And whatever news the mainstream media plans to print or broadcast was stale bread.

Twitter became more effective on May 7 when even state assemblymen and reporters began to Twitter. Information just flew freely and widely without censorship. At the manner information spread, those in power will really have to think twice about censorship. At one point, it appeared that even Kristie Lu Stout of CNN was following tweets by a reporter from The Edge.

After a while when the sitting in the Perak state assembly was adjourned for a second time by a new de facto Speaker and detained individuals released, those tweets slowed down a bit.

But it is not dead.

Twitter lies silently for the next big event, not unlike the black monolith in Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke’s “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

First published in The Malaysian Insider on May 9 2009.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

errata — the statement on Kristie Lu Stout might be inaccurate. While Stout does follow tweets from The Edge and that the reporter did tweet Stout, I cannot say with absolute certainty that Stout did follow the reporter’s tweets. I thank the reporter for clarifying the matter.