EFFICIENT JUDICIARY BENEFITS LAWYERS, CLIENTS, SAYS M'SIA'S CHIEF JUSTICE

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 (Bernama) -- "I'm not working for myself, but more
important is that lawyers and their clients benefit from our ((judiciary's)
efforts in improving efficiency," reiterated Chief Justice Zaki Azmi Friday.

"We work for you all, probably you don't realise it, taxpayers are the ones
paying our salaries and I have another year to go and nothing to lose after
which I can go home and sleep if I want to," stressed Zaki in defending himself
over criticism that his efforts in clearing backlog of cases, especially at the
civil high courts, was putting lawyers under stress.

He also brushed aside criticisms that the judiciary's Key Performance Index
(KPI) was his priority and that because of it judges had been compromising on
the quality of judgements.

"Myself and fellow judges are getting very good response from the public as
well as lawyers via letters, e-mail and SMSes, where generally we don't get much
complaints from well established firms with only small firms making some noise,"
pointed out Zaki.

He said this to reporters after opening the new civil court at the Court
Complex here Friday.

He said in the long run, the number of judges would be reduced as currently
it cost taxpayers about RM1.5 million (US$483 million) per year in employing a
judge and supporting staff.

"We also want to facilitate investors who want an efficient judiciary,
whether they win or lose, they want cases disposed off quickly, this is not KPI.
Work or don't work we still get our salares and if we work hard, you are the
ones going to benefit out of it," stressed Zaki.

He said up to the end of August this year, there was a backlog of 3,395
civil and commercial cases at the Kuala Lumpur High Courts alone, with some
of them dated back to 1998.

"Six judges will be handling these cases and I hope they can be disposed off
within the next two years," added Zaki.

The chief justice also disagreed with his critics that the KPI system
forced judges to compromise quality of judgements.

"Almost 90 per cent of cases in our courts involve established points of
laws leaving only 10 per cent where the finer points of law have to be
addressed," he said.

Asked whether more court rooms here and other major towns were needed, Zaki
admitted that his office was looking into the possibility of renting buildings
near to the Court Complex here to expand capacity.

"However, at the rate we are disposing off cases, especially civil cases,
there is no urgent need for that," he added.

He said in fact, two old commercial courts in Kuala Lumpur would be closed
at the end of November and that one of the high courts in Temerloh, in Pahang
state had been closed.

Zaki added that two Sessions and seven magistrate court had also been closed
throughout the country this year.

In a related development, Zaki admitted that the next backlog of cases would
be at the Appeal and Federal Courts and that more judges would be elevated to
handle the additional cases.


Chief Judge of Malaya Arifin Zakaria, who was also present, defended Zaki's
efforts and said lawyers and court staff should change their mindset.

"If you look at our current law journals like MLJ (Malayan Law Journal) and
CLJ (Commonwealth Law Journal), volumes are going up, where finer points of law
are being raised by lawyers but judges still have time to write their
judgments," added Arifin.

He said judges intending to go on long leave are required to annexe with
their leave application form the number of cases still pending at their
respective courts.

"This is to ensure they write judgments on time and plan their leave to
avoid any unneccessary delays," he added.
-- BERNAMA