Gengadharan Nair

Last updated

Justice Datuk K. P. Gengadharan Nair is a Malaysian High Court judge and prior to that was a prominent lawyer specialising in industrial law.

Contents

Early life

Genga, as he was known to all, was born on 30 April 1944 in Kuala Lumpur. He was one of three children born to C.R. Nair and Lakshmi Kutty Amma.

As many from his generation who became lawyers, Genga was first a school teacher, trained at Brinsford Lodge in Liverpool and on his return, served in a number of schools, including the prestigious Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur.

He quickly became active in union activities.

In 1968, he quit teaching and left for London to read law at the Inner Temple. He was called to the bar after securing a Second Class degree in his first attempt at the Bar examinations.

On his return to Malaysia in 1972, Genga did his pupilage at the law firm of Xavier and Vadiveloo, a firm specialising in industrial law. He was admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya in June 1973. With the late D.P. Xavier as his mentor, Genga established himself as an expert in industrial law.

In all his years in practice, Genga only represented trade unions and the employees, eschewing the more lucrative briefs of employers and employer associations. He was committed to the advancement of labour rights

As a member of the Malaysian Bar, he was for many years a member of the Industrial Court of Rules and Practice Committee of the Bar Council and sat on the Bar Council's Special Committee on Review of Chambering in 2002.

In 1988, Genga and his partners, N. Mahalingam and Wong Lu Peen established the firm of Genga Maha Wong & Co (later known as Genga Maha & Peri) with the address Room 302, 3rd Floor, Bangunan NUBE, 114 Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, 50100 Kuala Lumpur.

When Genga was appointed Judicial Commissioner in 2003, many, especially lawyers, who have appeared before him felt that the elevation should have been made much earlier.

He showed that appeared before him that, when properly attended, litigation as developed in the common law courts was one of the finest arts for conflict resolution available to man.

In the High Court in Johor Bahru, where he first heard his cases, he earned the respect of lawyers. The Court of Appeal had no difficulties in affirming his decisions.

He is also widely quoted for his judgements relating to criminal matters. In, PP V. Mohd. Abbas Danus Baksan [2004] 7 CLJ 249, he stated as follows:

"It is, in my humble view, quite clear that the accused was merely trying to tailor his defence in an attempt to create doubts about the prosecution's case knowing full well, having opted to give his evidence in the form of an unsworn statement from the dock that his story cannot be tested by cross examination. The end result of his statement is just a mere denial and assertions not supported by evidence. It is trite that mere denial without other proof to reasonably dislodge the evidence presented by the prosecution is insufficient to inject reasonable doubt into the prosecution's case."

In PP v Jessica Lim Lu Ping & Anor [2004] 2 CLJ 763, he made this pertinent observation:-

Despite decades of sentencing by the Malaysian courts no golden rule has yet evolved in the sentencing of accused persons following a conviction in criminal cases. Neither have the courts evolved a cast iron formula to be followed in sentencing. However, there has always been a general flexible principle that all courts have a flexible and free discretion to be exercised judicially and with a judicial conscience in deciding the period in which a guilty criminal will be incarcerated in prison.

Nonetheless, our courts have evolved a general flexible rule propounded through numerous decided cases that where an accused person pleads guilty without contesting the charge or charges against him in a trial which might consume many days, involving prosecutors, witnesses, documents, police officers and chemists the courts lean in favour of imposing a reduced sentence. A "plea of guilty" achieves the disposal of a criminal case with lightning speed. Every contest and trial leads to a backlog of undisposed criminal cases clogging the courts and the prisons with remand prisoners. It is in the public interest that pending criminal cases be disposed off as expeditiously as possible and accused persons who plead guilty be imposed with a reduced sentence. Honesty is a universal obligation and a reduced sentence encourages honesty when an accused pleads guilty, the end result being that more accused persons would willingly admit guilt without a trial, thus, reducing the workload of the prosecutor's office and the clearance of the backlog of cases.

Family and Social Service

In 1976, he married Devagey Raru. A son, Sashikharan was born in 1982. Despite a busy schedule, Genga always made time for the family.

He always spent his preciously limited time to community service. For many year, until his appointment as a judge, he was an active and respected member of the Rotary Club of Damansara.

Genga died on 21 April 2007 [1] at the Subang Jaya Medical Centre in Petaling Jaya following a short illness and was cremated the day after. [2]

Related Research Articles

In United States law, an Alford plea, also called a Kennedy plea in West Virginia, an Alford guilty plea, and the Alford doctrine, is a guilty plea in criminal court, whereby a defendant in a criminal case does not admit to the criminal act and asserts innocence, but accepts imposition of a sentence. This plea is allowed even if the evidence to be presented by the prosecution would be likely to persuade a judge or jury to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. This can be caused by circumstantial evidence and testimony favoring the prosecution, and difficulty finding evidence and witnesses that would aid the defense.

A plea bargain, also known as a plea agreement or plea deal, is a legal arrangement in criminal law where the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a charge in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor. These concessions can include a reduction in the severity of the charges, the dismissal of some charges, or a more lenient sentencing recommendation. Plea bargaining serves as a mechanism to expedite the resolution of criminal cases, allowing both the prosecution and the defense to avoid the time, expense, and uncertainty of a trial. It is a prevalent practice in the United States, where it resolves the vast majority of criminal cases, and has been adopted in various forms in other legal systems worldwide.

In law, a plea is a defendant's response to a criminal charge. A defendant may plead guilty or not guilty. Depending on jurisdiction, additional pleas may be available, including nolo contendere, no case to answer, or an Alford plea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criminal justice</span> Justice to those who have committed crimes

Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other crimes, and moral support for victims. The primary institutions of the criminal justice system are the police, prosecution and defense lawyers, the courts and the prisons system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judiciary of Israel</span> Part of the article of the series of government of Israel

The judicial system of Israel consists of secular courts and religious courts. The law courts constitute a separate and independent unit of Israel's Ministry of Justice. The system is headed by the President of the Supreme Court and the Minister of Justice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High Court of Singapore</span> Lower division of national supreme court

The High Court of Singapore is the lower division of the Supreme Court of Singapore, the upper division being the Court of Appeal. The High Court consists of the chief justice and the judges of the High Court. Judicial Commissioners are often appointed to assist with the Court's caseload. There are two specialist commercial courts, the Admiralty Court and the Intellectual Property Court, and a number of judges are designated to hear arbitration-related matters. In 2015, the Singapore International Commercial Court was established as part of the Supreme Court of Singapore, and is a division of the High Court. The other divisions of the high court are the General Division, the Appellate Division, and the Family Division. The seat of the High Court is the Supreme Court Building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lai Kew Chai</span>

Lai Kew Chai was a Singaporean judge and the longest-serving member of the Supreme Court Bench, having served for almost 25 years as a Judge.

Capital punishment in Malaysia is used as a penalty within its legal system for various crimes. There are currently 27 capital crimes in Malaysia, including murder, drug trafficking, treason, acts of terrorism, waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, and, since 2003, rape resulting in death, or the rape of a child. Executions are carried out by hanging. Capital punishment was mandatory for 11 crimes for many years. In October 2018, the government imposed a moratorium on all executions with a view to repeal the death penalty altogether, before it changed its stance and agreed to keep the death penalty but would make it discretionary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Chong</span> Singaporean judge

Steven Chong Horng Siong is a Singaporean judge who has been serving as a judge of the Court of Appeal of Singapore since 2017. He had previously served as the seventh attorney-general of Singapore between 2012 and 2014, and a judge of the High Court of Singapore between 2010 and 2012, and again between 2014 and 2017.

Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) is a 1,000-acre (4.0 km2) commercial and industrial zone established in 2004 in Malaysia. It is a regional distribution hub as well as a trade and logistics centre offering extensive distribution and manufacturing facilities. It is located along the Straits of Malacca, Port Klang, Klang, Malaysia. The PKFZ was previously managed by Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority (JAFZA). However, it was taken over and rebranded by a local company in 2007. The PKFZ offers various investment incentives to investors such as tax exemptions on most products and services, subsidies, allowing wholly foreign owned enterprises, free repatriation of capital and profits and incentives for research and development, training and export.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caning in Malaysia</span> Corporal punishment

Caning is used as a form of corporal punishment in Malaysia. It can be divided into at least four contexts: judicial/prison, school, domestic, and sharia/syariah. Of these, the first is largely a legacy of British colonial rule in the territories that are now part of Malaysia, particularly Malaya.

The Anwar Ibrahim sodomy trials are a source of considerable political controversy in Malaysia. The first trial was held in 1998, and resulted in former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim being convicted, and given a nine-year prison sentence. This verdict was overturned in 2004, resulting in Anwar's release from prison.

Plea bargaining in the United States is very common; the vast majority of criminal cases in the United States are settled by plea bargain rather than by a jury trial. They have also been increasing in frequency—they rose from 84% of federal cases in 1984 to 94% by 2001. Plea bargains are subject to the approval of the court, and different States and jurisdictions have different rules. Game theory has been used to analyze the plea bargaining decision.

Following the common law system introduced into Hong Kong when it became a Crown colony, Hong Kong's criminal procedural law and the underlying principles are very similar to the one in the UK. Like other common law jurisdictions, Hong Kong follows the principle of presumption of innocence. This principle penetrates the whole system of Hong Kong's criminal procedure and criminal law. Viscount Sankey once described this principle as a 'golden thread'. Therefore, knowing this principle is vital for understanding the criminal procedures practised in Hong Kong.

Datuk Anthony Kevin Morais was a Deputy Public Prosecutor for the Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Eugene Singarajah Thuraisingam is a Singaporean lawyer. He is the founder of the law firm Eugene Thuraisingam LLP, a law firm that specialises in international arbitration and criminal and commercial litigation. He is also known for his advocacy of human rights and for his opposition of the death penalty in Singapore. In relation to his domestic practice as a criminal lawyer in Singapore, Thuraisingam has defended many alleged suspects in high profile criminal trials, including those who were dissidents and critics of the government of Singapore. For his legal service for many defendants in the court of Singapore, Doyles Guide has named him as a leading criminal defence lawyer in Singapore in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 Kallang slashings</span> 2010 robbery-murder case in Singapore

The 2010 Kallang slashings refer to a series of four robberies committed by a group of four Malaysians from Sarawak, Malaysia in the night of 29 May 2010 and the early hours of the morning of 30 May 2010, mostly around Kallang Area, Singapore. In the robberies, there were a total of four victims – the first three victims were seriously injured and hospitalised while a fourth victim was killed.

Mohamed Shafee bin Mohamed Abdullah is a Malaysian lawyer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trial of Vadim Shishimarin</span> Trial of Russian war criminal

Vadim Yevgenyevich Shishimarin is a Russian soldier who was the first person to go on trial for war crimes committed during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. On 18 May 2022, he pleaded guilty to fatally shooting an unarmed civilian, Oleksandr Shelipov. On 23 May, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Shishimarin's lawyer lodged an appeal and on 29 July 2022, his sentence was reduced to 15 years in prison. Law professor Chris Jenks suggested that the legal reasoning, conviction and sentencing appeared to be flawed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Hans Herzog</span> 2003 murder of a German-born Australian businessman in Malaysia

On 12 November 2003, 59-year-old Hans Herzog, a German-born Australian businessman, was found dead with multiple slash and stab wounds on his body at his residence at USJ, Subang Jaya in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia. Herzog, whose wife was Malaysian, was said to have been killed by two teenage boys allegedly hired by his two teenage stepdaughters, who resented him for alleged domestic abuse. The four teenagers were arrested and charged with murder.

References

  1. ↑ "In Memoriam - the Malaysian Bar".
  2. ↑ "Archives | The Star Online". Archived from the original on 25 March 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.