PETALING JAYA: Former chief justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad has passed away. He was 83.
Abdul Hamid was born in Kepala Batas, Penang, and joined the judicial and legal service in May 1969, where he served for 21 years.
During that period, he served as a magistrate, president of the sessions court, assistant director of the Legal Aid Bureau, and deputy registrar of the High Court.
He was appointed a High Court judge in 1992, and elevated to a Court of Appeal judge in 2002.
He was appointed a judge of the Federal Court a year later.
In September 2007, Abdul Hamid was appointed president of the Court of Appeal, before being named as the chief justice on Dec 11 the same year.
He retired in October 2008.
Former appellate judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer hailed Abdul Hamid as a judge with special knowledge in civil and shariah law.
Abdul Hamid also paved the way for Islamic banking documents to secure contractual legitimacy in line with common law and the Contract Act, he said.
Hamid, who served as a judicial commissioner during Abdul Hamid’s tenure as chief justice, said “buat kerja” was the key driving phrase he advocated to move the judiciary to fulfil its public obligations to clear the massive backlog of cases.
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