Richard Malanjum is a Malaysian jurist and lawyer who served as the ninth Chief Justice of Malaysia and fourth Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak. Before joining the judicial service, he was a practising lawyer and was the president of the Sabah Law Association, the bar association for the state of Sabah.
He started his career as a clerk at the Education Department, Department of Agriculture, Television and Radio Department before moving on as a Welfare Officer at the State Welfare Department. Having obtained a law degree, Malanjum served at the Sabah Chief Minister's Department and was assigned as Deputy Public Prosecutor at the Sabah State Attorney-General's Chambers. He was also admitted to the English Bar of the Honourable Society of Gray's Inn in London. Upon his return to Malaysia, Malanjum continued his service as deputy public prosecutor and senior legal counsel at the Sabah State Attorney-General's Chambers. In 1977, he was a solicitor with the Malaysian Bar, Sabah and was admitted to the Australian Capital Territory Bar in 1991. In 1981, Malanjum resigned from his post at the Sabah State Attorney-General's Chambers and joined a legal firm in Kota Kinabalu where he became Sabah Law Association president. Later, he was appointed as judicial commissioner in early 1992. In 2006, for the first time since the formation of Malaysia, he became the first Sabahan elevated as Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, the fourth most senior judicial office in Malaysia. Prior to that, the post was held by a British, one from Peninsular Malaysia and several Sarawakians. He was sworn-in as the ninth Chief Justice of Malaysia, the highest judicial officer in Malaysia on 11 July 2018, becoming the first person from the Borneo states of Malaysia to ascend to the office. He retired as Chief Justice on 13 April 2019 having reached the mandatory retirement age.
Landmark Court Cases
Called a “fearless and staunch defender of the integrity of the Federal Constitution and fundamental liberties” by Retired Court of Appeal judge Datuk Hishamudin Yunus for his dissenting judgements whilst in Federal Court, Richard was claimed to have made 'brave' judgements in the controversial cases of Lina Joy in which he had adjudge the insistence by the National Registration Department for a certificate of apostasy from the Federal Territory Syariah Court was not only unlawful but also unreasonable, The Herald/Allah Case “According to Justice Richard Malanjum, there were merits in the applicant's contention that the Minister's decision contravened Article 11 and of the Federal Constitution, and therefore leave to appeal to the Federal Court ought to be granted.”Richard had also made separate judgements in other cases including Public Prosecutor vs Koh Wah Kuan, Sivarasa Rasiah vs Badan Peguam Malaysia, M. Indira Gandhi vs Pengarah Jabatan Agama Islam Perak and others and Alma Nudo Atenza v Public Prosecutor
