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JB court without judge for a year |
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Saturday, 19 April 2008 09:36am |
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©The
Star (Used by permission)
by Farik Zolkepli
JOHOR BARU: The High Court Five here has not had a judge for the past year and
this has caused many cases to be delayed repeatedly.
A lack of interpreters at the magistrate’s courts has also resulted in a backlog
of cases.
DAP national legal bureau secretary Gobind Singh Deo, who is also a lawyer, said
he had had at least 10 cases postponed at High Court Five in the past year
because there was no judge to hear the cases.
He pointed out that a multi-million drug trafficking case involving three
Mexicans at the magistrate's court here had been postponed three times this year
as the court had failed to acquire a Spanish-speaking interpreter.
“This does not project a positive image of our judiciary to foreign countries,”
he said, adding that the present situation was unacceptable.
Gobind Singh said the families of those remanded were often the victims of
delayed court proceedings.
“Chief Judge of Malaya Justice Alauddin Mohd Sheriff must resolve this matter.
Cases are being postponed daily due to the absence of a judge,” he said.
He said the matter had been included in his list of oral questions submitted to
Parliament last week.
Gobind Singh commended the Johor Baru High Court judges for accommodating the
cases that should be heard in High Court Five and praised the magistrate's court
for writing to Putrajaya for interpreters.
A High Court official, who refused to be named, said almost 30 criminal cases
were not able to proceed because there was no judge for High Court Five.
The official explained that High Court Five had been without a judge ever since
a Judicial Commissioner, who was supposed to report for duty at the court met
with an accident near Machap on his way down to Johor Baru to report for duty.
The Judicial Commissioner was on medical leave for a couple of months and was
subsequently transferred to Kuala Lumpur, without ever assuming duties at the
court.
Johor Bar Committee chairman K. Mohan said the other four judges were
coordinating and sharing the cases meant for Court Five.
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