KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 — Chief Justice of Malaysia Tun Zaki Tun Azmi has been appointed Honorary Bencher of the Lincoln’s Inn, one of the four Inns of Court in Britain.

The appointment was officially announced by the Treasurer of the Inn, Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe, who is also Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, during an official luncheon at Lincoln’s Inn building in London yesterday.

Among those present at the luncheon were members of the Honorable Society of Lincoln’s Inn Alumni Association Malaysia.

The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn elects only a very few honorary benchers annually, according to Special Officer of The Chief Justice, Mohd Aizuddin Zolkeply, in a statement here today.

He said those elected were few people with extraordinary standing in their professions, at the level of chief justice or similar, or head of state.

The process is not a routine one with a set pattern, but it is usually initiated either by the annually elected head of the society, who has the title, treasurer; or by a letter to the treasurer from one of the Inn’s Benchers, providing a full CV of the person and recommending them as someone whom the Inn might wish to consider.

Benchers, or more properly Masters of the Bench, are the elected governing body of the Inn.

The Treasurer then asks the views of other Benchers on the merits of the candidate before putting their election to a vote at Council (as a meeting of the Inn’s main governing body is called).

The candidate must then receive a minimum number of votes in his or her favour at the Council meeting.

Mohd Aizuddin said there are currently three Malaysian Honorary Benchers of Lincoln’s Inn. They are Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah, Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, a retired federal court judge, and the current chief justice.

Second Prime Minister, the late Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, and third Prime Minister, the late Tun Hussein Onn, were also Honorary Benchers of the Inn. — Bernama