Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim

"Lingam Tape". Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. See also : Lingam Video Clip

On 19 September 2007, online daily Malaysiakini broke a story on a tape released by former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, where senior lawyer V.K. Lingam was seen talking to someone believed to be the Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz. ^[5] The grainy eight-minute video footage was taken in 2002 at Lingam's Kelana Jaya house. At that time, Ahmad Fairuz was the Chief Judge of Malaya (judiciary's No. 3 post).

The video showed Lingam expressing concern that the outgoing CJ Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah was moving 'his men' into top judiciary posts. The conversation revolved around the urgent need to get Ahmad Fairuz appointed as Court of Appeal President (No. 2) and then Chief Justice (No. 1). Lingam expressed his plan to get tycoon Vincent Tan, a close ally of then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, and Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, a minister in PM's Department to talk to Mahathir on the appointment of judges. Allegedly, this was in return for Ahmad Fairuz's "suffering" in the election petition cases in the past where Ahmad Fairuz had ruled against the Opposition.

Following the revelation, over 2,000 lawyers heeding the call of the Malaysian Bar Council walked from the Palace of Justice to the Prime Minister's Department to demand the Prime Minister to set up a Royal Commission to investigate. On 17 November 2007, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced that a Royal Commission would be set up to investigate the matter. Ahmad Fairuz denied his involvement, and Anwar responded that he "would love to see him (Ahmad Fairuz) defend himself in the dock as to whether he was lying." ^[6]

The Royal Commission's methods of arriving at certain conclusions, however, have been criticised by some. They claim that the alleged conversation was a monologue, and, therefore, the commission could not have reliably confirmed who was at the other end of the line. The Commission neither established that the phone call had come from Ahmad Fairuz, nor made a connection between the two, as even Lingam's secretary testified that to her knowledge Ahmad Fairuz had never tried to contact Lingam at his office.

Commission chairman Tan Sri Haidar Mohamed Noor presented a two-volume report on the findings to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin at the Istana Negara on 9 May 2008. ^[7]

Personal life

He is married to Mazni bt Mohd Noor and they have two children.

Honours

Honours of Malaysia

• Malaysia
  • Grand Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (SSM) – Tun (2005) ^{[8] [9]}
  • Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (PSM) – Tan Sri (2002) ^[10]
• Kedah
  • Knight Grand Companion of the Order of Loyalty to the Royal House of Kedah (SSDK) – Dato' Seri (2004) ^[11]
  • Knight Companion of the Order of Loyalty to the Royal House of Kedah (DSDK) – Dato' (1990) ^[12]
  • State of Kedah Distinguished Service Star (BCK) ^[13]
• Kelantan
  • Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Crown of Kelantan (SPMK) – Dato' (2005) ^{[14] [15]}
  • Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Life of the Crown of Kelantan (SJMK) – Dato' (2003) ^{[16] [17]}
• Pahang
  • Knight Grand Companion of the Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang (SSAP) – Dato' Sri (2002) ^{[18] [19]}
• Selangor
  • Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Crown of Selangor (SPMS) – Dato' Seri (2003) ^{[16] [20] [21]}
  • Companion of the Order of the Crown of Selangor (SMS) (1988) ^{[22] [23]}
• Terengganu
  • Knight Grand Companion of the Order of Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin of Terengganu (SSMZ) – Dato' Seri (2003) ^{[16] [24]}
  • Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Crown of Terengganu (SPMT) – Dato' (1994) ^{[25] [26]}
  • Knight Companion of the Order of Sultan Mahmud I of Terengganu (DSMT) – Dato' (1991) ^[27]

References

1. Thomas Bell (1 September 2007). "Malaysia considers switch to Islamic law". Telegraph. Archived from the original on 22 October 2007. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
2. Hong, Carolyn (1 November 2007). "Malaysia's CJ retires; successor not named". The Straits Times. Retrieved 8 September 2025– via Malaysian Bar.
3. Yusop, Husna (5 December 2007). "Abdul Hamid new CJ". The Sun. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2025– via Malaysian Bar.
4. Stefan J. Bos (30 May 2007). "Malaysia's Christian Joy Loses Islam Conversion Case". BosNewsLife.
5. "Special Report: The Lingam tape". Malasiakini. 24 September 2007.
6. Beh Lih Yi (29 September 2007). "CJs name mentioned in Lingam tape Pt 2". Malaysiakini.
7. "Panel finds Lingam video clip authentic". TheStar. 10 May 2008. Archived from the original on 10 May 2008.
8. "Senarai Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat Persekutuan Tahun 2005" (PDF). www.istiadat.gov.my.
9. Bernama (5 June 2005). "The Yang di-Pertuan Agong's 62nd birthday honours list". The Star . Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
10. "Semakan Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat". Archived from the original on 19 July 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
11. "Royalty and CJ head Kedah honours list" . The Star . 18 January 2004. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
12. "Pengurniaan Darjah Kebesaran Bergelar Bagi Tahun 1990 Mengikut Negeri" (PDF). Prime Minister's Department (Malaysia). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 June 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
13. "Carian Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat". eservices.kedah.gov.my.
14. "Pengurniaan Darjah Kebesaran Bergelar Bagi Tahun 2005 Mengikut Negeri" (PDF). Prime Minister's Department (Malaysia). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 June 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
15. "Sultan of Kelantan birthday honours list". The Star . 30 October 2008. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2005.
16. "Pengurniaan Darjah Kebesaran Bergelar Tahun 2003 Mengikut Negeri" (PDF). Prime Minister's Department (Malaysia). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 June 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
17. "Tengku Bendahara receives highest State award". New Straits Times . 30 March 2003. p. 7.
18. "Pengurniaan Darjah Kebesaran Bergelar Tahun 2002 Mengikut Negeri" (PDF). Prime Minister's Department (Malaysia). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
19. "Sultan's Children Head Award's List". New Straits Times . 24 October 2002. p. 6.
20. "SPMS 2003". awards.selangor.gov.my. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
21. "The Sultan of Selangor's Birthday Honours List". The Star . 13 December 2003. Archived from the original on 14 September 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
22. "SMS 1988". awards.selangor.gov.my. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
23. "Minister, Navy chief top State awards list". New Straits Times . 8 March 1988. p. 6.
24. "Terengganu Sultan honours father in law and 86 others". New Straits Times . 20 July 2003. p. 8.
25. "Pengurniaan Darjah Kebesaran Bergelar Bagi Tahun 1994 Mengikut Negeri" (PDF). Prime Minister's Department (Malaysia). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 June 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
26. "441 on Sultan's birthday list". New Straits Times . 29 April 1994. p. 7.
27. "Pengurniaan Darjah Kebesaran Bergelar Bagi Tahun 1991 Mengikut Negeri" (PDF). Prime Minister's Department (Malaysia). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 June 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2024.

Yang Amat Berbahagia Tun Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim SSM PSM SPMK SJMK SPMS SSDK SSMZ SPMT DSMT DSDK SMS BCK
4th Chief Justice of Malaysia
In office 16 March 2003 –31 October 2007

Legal offices
Preceded by Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah	Chief Justice of Malaysia 2003–2007	Succeeded by Abdul Hamid Mohamad
Preceded by Wan Adnan Ismail	President of the Court of Appeal of Malaysia 2002–2003	Succeeded by Abdul Malek Ahmad
Preceded by Wan Adnan Ismail	Chief Judge of Malaya 2001–2002	Succeeded by Haidar Mohamed Noor