Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat | |
|---|---|
| تڠكو ميمون توان مت | |
 Tengku Maimun in 2019 | |
| 10thChief Justice of Malaysia | |
| In office 2 May 2019 – 2 July 2025 | |
| Nominated by | Mahathir Mohamad |
| Appointed by | Abdullah |
| Monarchs | Abdullah (2019–2024) Ibrahim Iskandar (2024–2025) |
| Prime Minister | Mahathir Mohamad (2019–2020) Muhyiddin Yassin (2020–2021) Ismail Sabri Yaakob (2021–2022) Anwar Ibrahim (2022–2025) |
| Preceded by | Richard Malanjum |
| Succeeded by | TBD |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Tengku Maimun binti Tuan Mat (1959-07-02)2 July 1959 (age 66) Kota Bharu,Kelantan,Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia) |
| Citizenship | Malaysian |
| Spouse | Zamani Ibrahim |
| Children | 4 |
| Alma mater | University of Malaya (LLB) |
| Profession | Judiciary |
| This article is part ofa series on the |
| Politics of Malaysia |
|---|
 |
Tengku Maimun binti Tuan Mat (Jawi:تڠكو ميمون توان مت; born 2 July 1959) is a Malaysian lawyer who served as the 10thChief Justice of Malaysia from May 2019 until her retirement in July 2025.[1] She was the second-longest serving Chief Justice and the first woman to ascend to the highest judicial office in the country.[2][3]
During her tenure as Chief Justice, Tengku Maimun presided over several notable cases, including the conviction of former Prime MinisterNajib Razak in theSRC International corruption case.[4][5] Her tenure has received both support and criticism, particularly in relation to decisions involving religious and constitutional matters.[6][7]
Tengku Maimun had her primary education at Merbau English School. She had her secondary education atSekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Kota Bharu andSultan Ismail College. She later completed her Sixth Form education atKolej Tunku Kurshiah.[8] Tengku Maimun graduated from theUniversity of Malaya with aBachelor of Laws (Honours) (LL.B.) in 1982.[9][1]
Tengku Maimun joined the judicial service in 1982 as a legal officer for the Southern Kelantan Development Board (KESEDAR) and later theSeremban Municipal Council.[9][1]
After a career that included postings at the Attorney General's Chambers, Magistrates and Sessions Courts, Tengku Maimun was appointed ajudicial commissioner in 2006.[10]
Between September 2007 and January 2013, Tengku Maimun served as aHigh Court judge. Her tenure included postings at theKuala Lumpur High Court and later atShah Alam High Court.[10]
Prior to her appointment as a judge of theFederal Court of Malaysia, she was first elevated as a judge of theCourt of Appeal of Malaysia. Tengku Maimun served in this position for almost six years, between January 2013 and November 2018.[10]
In November 2018, Tengku Maimun was appointed a Federal Court judge, the highest court of the country.[11]
Following the ninth Chief Justice's, Richard Malanjum's, compulsory retirement at the age of 66 in April 2019, Tengku Maimun was announced as his successor in May 2019 after thePrime Minister of Malaysia,Mahathir Mohamad, confirmed having received the approval from theYang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia).[2] She became the first woman in history to hold the office of Chief Justice of Malaysia, creating another first for the holder of the top judicial office after Malanjum became the first person from theBorneo states of Malaysia to ascend to the office.[12][13]
On 2 July 2025, Tengku Maimun retired on her 66th birthday. On her final day in office, she stated that she had no regrets about the end of her term and viewed the non-extension of her contract as insignificant compared to her six years of service. She described her time in office as a privilege and expressed hope that her successor would continue the work of maintaining public confidence in the judiciary.[14][15] She was the second-longest serving Chief Justice. Her tenure of 6 years and 62 days falls just 24 days short ofMohd Eusoff Chin's record of 6 years and 86 days.
In 2013, Tengku Maimun, alongside two other Court of Appeal judges, unanimously reversed a decision by the High Court toconvict two formerMalaysian policecommandos ofmurder of theMongolian modelAltantuya Shaariibuu.[1] This decision was later reinstated by the Federal Court.[16]
In 2014, Tengku Maimun was the only member of a three-person Court of Appeal panel presiding over a high profile child conversion case who dissented to a decision reversing themandamus order from theIpoh High Court to the then-Inspector-General of Police (IGP),Khalid Abu Bakar, to locate and return M. Indira Gandhi's daughter Prasana Diksa and arrest her ex-husband Mohd Ridzuan.[17] This decision was later overturned by the Federal Court.[18]
In 2016, Tengku Maimun was the sole judge part of a three-person Court of Appeal panel to dissent to the decision to convict thenDemocratic Action Party (DAP) chairmanKarpal Singh of sedition.[1] After three years, the late politician was unanimously acquitted by a seven-person Federal Court panel.[19][20]
In 2018, a three-person Court of Appeal panel led by Tengku Maimun upheld the decision by the High Court which found Southeast Asia's largestpublicly-listed power companyTenaga Nasional guilty of negligence which led to theflash floods atCameron Highlands in 2013. This was following alawsuit filed by 100 affected residents fromBertam Valley against the company.[21] She ruled that there was evidence that the company failed to properly maintain the dam atRinglet.[22]
In 2019, Tengku Maimun was part of a seven-person Federal Court panel chaired by then Chief Justice, Richard Malanjum, to set aside thestay of proceedings granted by the Court of Appeal in the trial of former Prime MinisterNajib Razak. This enabled the trial concerning the misappropriation of RM42 million from SRC International Sdn Bhd, related to the global1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, to finally begin after multiple delays.[23]
In 2021, a nine-judge panel at the Federal Court led by Tengku Maimun unanimously struck down Section 28 of the Shariah Criminal Offences (Selangor) Enactment 1995 which criminalised unnatural sex, includingsodomy, declaring it unconstitutional. The court decided that theSelangor legislature, being a state-level authority, did not have the power to enact laws concerning matters that fell within the jurisdiction of theParliament of Malaysia, even if no such law exists at the federal level.[24][25]
In 2022, a five-member Federal Court bench led by Tengku Maimun unanimously dismissed former prime ministerNajib Razak's appeal to adduce more evidence to the SRC International Sdn Bhd graft case in a bid to overturn his conviction and sentence.[26]
The same year, a five-member panel of the Federal Court led by Tengku Maimun unanimously rejectedNajib Razak's final appeal and affirmed his conviction and sentence in the SRC International corruption case. Najib was ordered to begin his 12 years jail terms immediately, making him the first ever former prime minister to be convicted of a crime and imprisoned in Malaysia.[27][28][29][30]
In 2023, a five-judge panel of the Federal Court chaired by Tengku Maimun unanimously ruled that Section 498 of thePenal Code, which punishes a man for enticing away a married women from her husband, is unconstitutional. She said Section 498 only allows husbands to report another man for enticing their wives, but wives were not entitled to do so for women that enticed their married spouses, therefore it has ran foul with Article 8 of the Constitution that protectsgender equality.[31][32]
In 2024, the Federal Court's nine-judge panel chaired by Tengku Maimun in a 8-1 decision inNik Elin v. Kelantan declared that 17 provisions of the Syariah Criminal Code (I) Enactment 2019 ofKelantan were unconstitutional and that theKelantan State Legislative Assembly had impinged into areas where only the federal parliament had jurisdiction.[33][34][35]
In 2025, on the last day of her tenure as Chief Justice, Tengku Maimun led a five-member Federal Court panel that unanimously ruled that Section 9(5) of thePeaceful Assembly Act 2012 is unconstitutional. Section 9(5) of the Act stipulated that an organiser may be punished with up to RM10,000 fine if he failed to notify the police five days prior to the assembly. Tengku Maimun said that even if an assembly ended peacefully, the organiser may still face criminal charge under Section 9(5) of the Act, which would violated the organiser'sright to peaceful assembly guaranteed under Article 10(2)(b) of theConstitution.[36][37]
On the same day, Tengku Maimun chaired a three-member Federal Court panel which unanimously upheld the guilty verdict of three accused in theKevin Morais murder case, but acquitted and freed the other three remaining accused. The death sentence for the mastermine of the murder, R. Kunaseegaran, was upheld as he had withdrawn his appeal. For the other two convicts, one was commuted to 40 years in prison, while the other was commuted to 35 years imprisonment and 12 strokes ofwhipping.[38][39]
Malaysia :
Grand Commander of theOrder of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (SSM) –Tun (2020)[40][41][42][43]-_PMN.svg)
Commander of theOrder of the Defender of the Realm (PMN) –Tan Sri (2019)[44]
Recipient of the16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong Installation Medal (2019)
Recipient of the17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong Installation Medal (2024)
Kelantan :
Knight Grand Commander of theOrder of the Loyalty to the Crown of Kelantan (SPSK) –Dato' (2016)[45][46] Knight Commander of theOrder of the Loyalty to the Crown of Kelantan (DPSK) –Dato' (2006)[45][47]
Penang :.png)
Knight Commander of theOrder of the Defender of State (DUPN) –Dato' Seri Utama (2019)[48]
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | 10thChief Justice of Malaysia 2019–2025 | Succeeded by TBD |
