On 10 August 2020, members of the Malacca Bar said their farewells to his Lordship Datuk Wira Haji Ahmad Nasfy Bin Haji Yasin upon his elevation to the Court of Appeal.
Two years later, on 4 August 2022, we were pleased to celebrate his Lordship’s call to the Bar in the very court in which he delivered decisions and heard cases as a Judge of the High Court.
Mr. Jaspal, former Chairman of the Malacca Bar and the current representative to the Bar Council, moved his Lordship’s call before Justice Datuk Anselm Charles Fernandis, beginning his speech with a quip on how whether his Lordship was of good character was res ipsa loquitur.
The walk down the old stairs of the court must have felt very different – filled with nostalgia and a sense of homecoming, instead of a simple walk home after a hard day’s work.
In his closing address in the luncheon that followed, his Lordship shared that his Lordship had chosen the State of Melaka for his call, because Melaka has a very special place in his heart, full of good memories and faces his Lordship is fond of. His Lordship reminded all present to pursue not wealth, but health, because without the latter, the former often comes to mean nothing.
[Edit: Mr. Jaspal’s speech is reproduced below]
Teks Ucapan Upacara Penerimaan Masuk
Dengan izin Yang Arif,
Nama saya Jaspal Singh Gill, dan saya mewakili Pempetisyen YA Datuk Wira Haji Ahmad Nasfy Bin Haji Yasin. Rakan bijaksana saya, Tuan Mohamad Fuad Bin Ramlan, Peguam Persekutuan, mewakili Yang Berhormat Peguam Negara, manakala rakan bijaksana saya, Puan Foo Qiao Wei mewakili Majlis Peguam Malaysia dan Jawatankuasa Peguam Negeri Melaka.
Ini adalah Petisyen di bawah Seksyen 10 dan 15 Akta Profession Undang-Undang 1976 (Akta 166) agar Pempetisyen, YA Datuk Wira Haji Ahmad Nasfy Bin Haji Yasin, yang hadir pada hari ini, diterima masuk dan didaftaraikan sebagai seorang Peguambela dan Peguamcara Mahkamah Tinggi Malaya.
Yang Arif, saya dengan rendah diri memohon kebenaran untuk meneruskan ucapan saya dalam Bahasa Inggeris.
My Lord, it is traditionally the duty of the person moving the Court on a petition for admission, to persuade the Court that the petitioner is a fit and proper person to be admitted to the Bar. In this case, the facts which I will address shortly are res ipsa loquitor. They speak for themselves, and will show that the Petitioner before this Honourable Court today is indeed such a person.
My Lord, I seek leave to introduce the Petitioner and allude to facts in support of this Petition.
The Petitioner was born in Yan, Kedah on 30.5.1957, and is married to Datin Wira Hajjah Siti Rufazah Binti Saad, who is present in Court today for this joyous occasion.
The Petitioner and his wife have been blessed with 6 children, all of whom are successful in their careers. In fact, the youngest child has followed his father’s footsteps, having graduated in law from University Sains Islam Malaysia.
The Petitioner obtained his LLB Honours Degree from the University of Malaya in 1981, and his first appointment was as a Magistrate in Kuala Lumpur in May 1982.
The Petitioner was then appointed as a Deputy Public Prosecutor and was assigned to Penang in December 1984. In July 1988, the Petitioner was re-appointed as a Magistrate in Kota Bahru, and subsequently transferred to Kangar the following year.
The Petitioner was appointed as a Sessions Court Judge on 1.6.1990, and his first posting was in Butterworth, Penang. As a Sessions Court Judge, he served all 4 corners of Peninsular Malaysia, starting with Butterworth, Shah Alam, Kuantan, Kota Bahru, Ipoh, Georgetown and finally in Johor Bahru.
After 27 years of service in the Judicial and Legal Service, the Petitioner was appointed as a Judicial Commissioner on 14.8.2009 and his first posting was at the Seremban High Court. The Petitioner also served as a Judicial Commissioner at the Muar High Court and Taiping High Court.
While serving at Taiping, the Petitioner was confirmed as a High Court Judge on 12.9.2014.
On 1.1.2015, the Petitioner was transferred to the Shah Alam High Court, and on 1.1.2018, the Petitioner was transferred to the Melaka High Court as the senior Judge and presided in this very Courtroom.
Melaka High Court has proven to be a place where its Judges are invariably promoted to the Court of Appeal and even to the Federal Court. As such, it was only a matter of time when good news came the Petitioner’s way (but sad news for Malacca Bar members) that the Petitioner was to be elevated to the Court of Appeal.
The Petitioner was officially sworn in as a Court of Appeal Judge on 10.7.2020.
During one of the Petitioner’s visits to the Melaka High Court to conclude his part-heard matters, I had the chance to meet with him, and he informed me of his desire to be called to the Malaysian Bar. The Petitioner, jokingly perhaps, asked if he needed to do any form of pupillage and attend the ethics course, which is a mandatory requirement before one can get called to the Bar.
We both went through the Legal Profession Act (Act 166) and came across Section 13(4), which exempts from pupillage any person who has served in the Judicial and Legal Service for at least one year, provided that the application for admission is supported by a certificate from the Attorney General that the person is a fit and proper person to be admitted as an advocate and solicitor.
I respectfully submit that the Petitioner has fulfilled the requisites of Section 13(4):
- The Petitioner has obtained a Certificate dated 10.12.2020 from Tan Sri Idris Harun, the Honourable Attorney General of Malaysia, that the Petitioner is a fit and proper person to be admitted as an advocate and solicitor – see page 13 of the Affidavit in Enclosure 6;
- The Petitioner has served the Judicial and Legal Service for 27 years, far more than the requisite 1 year service; and
- The Petitioner has been a Judicial Commissioner and Judge of the High Court, and a Court of Appeal Judge for a combined period of 13 years.
On a personal note, I had the privilege of knowing the Petitioner well when he was appointed as our High Court Judge in 2018, when I was Chairman of the Malacca Bar. The Petitioner was always approachable when we met to discuss matters affecting the Bench and Bar. I recall the tremendous burden facing the Petitioner when he also had to sit in Muar High Court on alternate weeks, leaving him only 2 weeks in Malacca to dispose his cases. This burden increased when our second High Court Judge retired, and urgent matters had to come before the Petitioner.
The Petitioner was concerned that he would not have sufficient time to hear all matters, which would result in a backlog of cases. I recall both of us having discussions to try to find ways to resolve this problem. These discussions made me realize how hard-working and conscientious the Petitioner was, where he always had the interest of the lawyers and litigants in mind in trying to dispose cases as efficiently as possible, while not dispensing with justice.
My Lord, I am without doubt that the Petitioner is a fit and proper person to be called to the Bar as an advocate and solicitor.
On a lighter note, when the Petitioner filed his papers through my firm and served it on the Malacca Bar Secretariat, he was required to fill up a form stating the details of where he was chambering and his personal details. This is a form which is required of all chambering pupils in Malacca. The Petitioner sportingly obliged and filled out the form, and he was then added to the Malacca Bar Pupils WhatsApp group, without realizing who he was.
It was only when the Petitioner was required to attend the Young Lawyers Workshop that a committee member noticed the Petitioner’s profile picture and commented “this new pupil looks very much like YA Ahmad Nasfy”. Needless to say, the Petitioner was politely informed that he did not need to attend the Young Lawyers Workshop, much to the relief of the speakers.
My Lord, I wish to end my speech with a request from the Petitioner to express his gratitude to the people who have made a difference in his life. The Petitioner wishes to express his deepest appreciation to his wife, children, brother and sister judges, judicial and legal officers, the court staff and lawyers, who have all played a part in his career as a judicial officer and judge.
I verily believe that all cause papers are in order, and that my learned friends from the Attorney General’s Chambers, Bar Council and Malacca Bar Committee have no objections to this Petition.
Oleh demikian, saya dengan rendah diri memohon agar Pempetisyen, YA Datuk Wira Haji Ahmad Nasfy Bin Haji Yasin, diterima masuk dan didaftaraikan sebagai Peguambela dan Peguamcara Mahkamah Tinggi Malaya.
Terima kasih.
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