Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim

Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim was born in Alor Setar, Kedah on 1 November 1941. He received his Bachelor of Laws from the National University of Singapore and later obtained his Master of Laws in International and Comparative Laws from the University of Brussels, Belgium.

He joined the Malaysian Judicial and Legal Service on 4 April 1967 as a Cadet Legal Officer and held various positions such as President of Sessions Court, State Legal Advisor and chairman of the advisory board, Prime Minister's Department. On 1 December 1988 he was appointed Judicial Commissioner of High Court Malaya and was later appointed a High Court Judge. On 1 December 1995 he was elevated as a Court of Appeal Judge until his appointment as a Federal Court Judge on 1 September 2000.{{cite news|url=http://www.bosnewslife.com/asia-pacific/malaysia/2975-urgent-breaking-news-malaysias-christian-joy|title= Malaysia's Christian Joy Loses Islam Conversion Case|date=30 May 2007|author= Stefan J. Bos|publisher=BosNewsLife}}

See video clip: {{cite news|url=http://www.malaysiakini.tv/?vid=1378 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011030707/http://www.malaysiakini.tv/?vid=1378 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2007-10-11 |title=Lingam Tape }}

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.{{cite news |url=http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/72772 |title=Special Report: The Lingam tape |work=Malasiakini |date=24 September 2007}} 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."{{cite news |url=http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/73030 |title=CJs name mentioned in Lingam tape Pt 2 |author=Beh Lih Yi |date=29 September 2007 |work=Malaysiakini}}

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.{{cite news|date=10 May 2008 |url=http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/10/nation/21213763&sec=nation |title=Panel finds Lingam video clip authentic |publisher=TheStar |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510171528/http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2008%2F5%2F10%2Fnation%2F21213763&sec=nation |archivedate=10 May 2008 }}

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

• {{Flag|Malaysia}} :
• 50px Grand Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (SSM) – Tun (2005)
• 50px Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (PSM) – Tan Sri (2002){{cite web|url=http://www.istiadat.gov.my/index.php/component/semakanlantikanskp/|title=Semakan Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat|access-date=24 August 2018|archive-date=19 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719195551/http://www.istiadat.gov.my/index.php/component/semakanlantikanskp|url-status=dead}}
• {{Flag|Kedah}} :
• 50px Knight Grand Companion of the Order of Loyalty to the Royal House of Kedah (SSDK) – Dato' Seri (2004)
• 50px Knight Companion of the Order of Loyalty to the Royal House of Kedah (DSDK) – Dato' (1999)
• 50px State of Kedah Distinguished Service Star (BCK){{cite web|url=https://eservices.kedah.gov.my/epingat/index.php?page=page_wrapper&menuID=150|title=Carian Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat|website=eservices.kedah.gov.my}}
• {{Flag|Kelantan}} :
• 50px Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Crown of Kelantan (SPMK) – Dato' (2005)
• 50px Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Life of the Crown of Kelantan (SJMK) – Dato' (2003)
• {{Flag|Selangor}} :
• 50px Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Crown of Selangor (SPMS) – Dato' Seri (2003){{cite web|url=https://awards.selangor.gov.my/sublinkyear.php?cat=10&subcat=S.P.M.S.|title=SPMS 2003|website=awards.selangor.gov.my|access-date=3 April 2022}}
• 50px Companion of the Order of the Crown of Selangor (SMS) (1988){{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vFlPAAAAIBAJ&dq=Mohamed+Rahmat&pg=PA4&article_id=3878,1801231|title=Minister, Navy chief top State awards list|publisher=New Straits Times|date=8 March 1988}}
• {{Flag|Terengganu}} :
• 50px Knight Grand Companion of the Order of Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin of Terengganu (SSMZ) – Dato' Seri (2003)
• 50px Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Crown of Terengganu (SPMT) – Dato' (1994)
• 50px Knight Companion of the Order of Sultan Mahmud I of Terengganu (DSMT) – Dato' (1991)

{{Reflist}}

{{s-start}}

{{s-legal}}

{{s-bef|before=Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah}}

{{s-ttl|title=Chief Justice of Malaysia|years=2003–2007}}

{{s-aft|after=Abdul Hamid Mohamad}}

{{s-bef|before=Wan Adnan Ismail}}

{{s-ttl|title=President of the Court of Appeal of Malaysia|years=2002–2003}}

{{s-aft|after=Abdul Malek Ahmad}}

{{s-bef|before=Wan Adnan Ismail}}

{{s-ttl|title=Chief Judge of Malaya|years=2001–2002}}

{{s-aft|after=Haidar Mohamed Noor}}

{{end}}

{{Grand Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:20th-century Malaysian judges

Category:21st-century Malaysian judges

Category:1941 births

Category:Living people

Category:Chief justices of Malaysia

Category:Presidents of the Court of Appeal of Malaysia

Category:People from Kedah

Category:Malaysian people of Malay descent

Category:Malaysian Muslims

Category:Vrije Universiteit Brussel alumni

Category:National University of Singapore alumni

Category:Grand Commanders of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia

Category:Commanders of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia

Category:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Crown of Terengganu