PUTRAJAYA: Superior court judges will be required to declare their assets soon to help ensure judicial integrity, Chief Justice Tan Sri Arifin Zakaria said Sunday.
The move would affect judges in Federal Court, Court of Appeal, High Court and Judicial Commissioners.
He said that if any allegation was raised against the judges, they would cooperate with the MACC to investigate.
He added that there was a need for transparency to ensure the integrity of the judicial system was preserved.
According to the Judges' Code of Ethics 2009, Sect 9: “A judge shall, on his appointment or at any time thereafter as may be required by the Chief Justice of the Federal Court, declare in writing all his assets to the Chief Justice of the Federal Court."
“I'm sure you have nothing to fear, so we will have to work together with the MACC on this,” said Arifin at the opening the 2012 Conference of Judges. The four-day annual conference was attended by 128 judges.
During his speech, Arifin told judges to maintain the judiciary independence and not put up with any interference when reaching their verdicts.
“But there are other interferences, one of them may be your spouse. So make sure there are no discussions,” he joked.
He also reminded them to produce sound judgements within the time frame given, adding that those who could not keep up should step down.
He warned that action would be taken against judges who failed to perform.
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International Malaysia Law Conference (26 to 28 Sept 2012) Hurry up! The countdown continues and the current promotion rate ends 30 June 2012. Don't miss what is going to be the best conference in the region! On top of that, if you sign up with 5 or more people from the same organisation, we will give you a 10% group discount. Click on the link above to register.
Talk on Summary Judgement (25 May 2012) Organised by the Selangor Bar Committee, this talk will take place at 5:00 pm, at the Selangor Bar Committee Auditorium, on 25 May 2012 (Friday). The talk will be conducted by Ramesh Supramanian. Click on the link above for more details.
Seminar on Tax Issues in Financial Transactions (25 May 2012) Organised by the Kuala Lumpur Bar Professional Development Committee, this seminar, featuring S Saravana Kumar, will take place at 3:00 pm, at the Kuala Lumpur Bar Auditorium, on 25 May 2012 (Friday). Click on the link above for more details.
Dialogue with Criminal Law Practitioners (26 May 2012) Organised by Bar Council, this dialogue will take place at 10:00 am to 12:00 pm, at the Raja Aziz Addruse Auditorium, Bar Council, on 26 May 2012 (Saturday). Click on the link above for more details.
Conference on Competition Law (31 May 2012) Organised by Bar Council with the support of LexisNexis, this conference will take place at 8:30 am to 4:00 pm, at Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel, on 31 May 2012 (Thursday). For more details or to register, please contact Vilashini Vijayan (03-2050 2095; vila@malaysianbar.org.my). Click on the link above for more details.
Talk on What Clients Want (7 June 2012) Organised by the KL Bar Practitioners' Affairs Committee, the talk, presented by Ong Eu Jin, will take place at 5:00 pm, at the KL Bar Auditorium, on 7 June 2012 (Thursday). Click on the link above for more details.
4th LAWASIA Family Law Conference, Penang (13 and 14 July 2012) Supported by Penang Bar Committee and the Malaysian Bar, this conference, themed “The New Global Family: Emerging Trends and Challenges to Family Practice”, will take place at Traders Hotel, Penang, on 13 and 14 July 2012 (Friday and Saturday). Click on the link above for more details.