The right to be heard without delay is a human right.
The Bar Council welcomes the Chief Justice’s move to look seriously into the
issue of delays in court cases.
However, singling out “popular lawyers” as a cause is to ignore the many other
factors that contribute substantially to the delays in courts.
There is also the important principle that cannot be derogated and that is that
an accused person or a litigant has a right to the counsel of his choice.
On the 7th and 8th of April 2005, SUHAKAM held a forum on the right to an
expeditious and fair trial. A written report was then prepared by SUHAKAM that
dealt comprehensively with the issue of delay and made several recommendations.
The workshop also identified the many factors that contribute to delays in
Courts and they include the acute shortage of judges and judicial officers,
insufficient support staff, the method of the recording of evidence and the
process by which an accused is charged.
Clearly a holistic approach is required as even without a lawyer handling many
cases, the court diaries are unable to accommodate early disposal of the cases.
The Malaysian Bar has always been concerned at the ever increasing number of
cases that are being filed in our courts and believes the recommendations of
SUHAKAM in this regard ought to be seriously considered and implemented.
PROBME MUST BE LICKED ... written by Stephen Tan Ban Cheng,
Thursday, March 22 2007 07:15 pm
Yup, I agree. A whole host of reasons may be behind the delay in Court cases. The backlog of cases is a perennial problem that appears to be incapable of a solution. To my mind, this has been a song sung so many times over that I now stands benumbed.
To blame any party for the delay is a bit over the top. But the problem must be licked without compromising the underlying principles lised out above.
Don't blame the lawyers written by Americk Sidhu,
Thursday, March 22 2007 07:17 pm
Here we go again.
All the ills of an ill equipped judicial system are being blamed on the lawyer.
I refer to NST March 21, page 18. Our dearly beloved CJ, who is not in his office, nor in Court, but in an East Malaysian town called Tuaran, (can't say I am familiar with it), but apparently there to attend a 2 day 'Sessions Court Judges meeting', had this to say:
"Popular lawyers are contributing to the delays in some court cases.......such lawyers sometimes had up to three cases a day. As a result they are unable to be present for some of the cases, resulting in the courts having to postpone the cases or set new dates for them...."
Hang on a minute! Let's study the pot before accusations of a grubby kettle are made.
I for one, only came to know of this Sessions Court Judges conference last week. Maybe I don't have my finger on the judicial pulse, but none of the other lawyers in my firm seemed to have gotten wind of this conference before I did.
So we were informed by a court clerk over the phone, that all Sessions Court cases were to be postponed for the whole week beginning Monday 19th March. If one of our staff had not called the court to enquire whether one of our cases was going on, we would not have known. The bar council notification via cyberspace arrived thereafter.
We had 28 Session Court hearings scheduled for this week. All have been adjourned. This is just 1 firm.
Can you imagine the resultant extrapolated figures if we consider the number of firms in this country?
Can you also imagine the number of subpoenas filed and served and all the allowances paid. Can you imagine all the time spent preparing for each case, interviewing witnesses, all the transportation involved in serving those subpoenas, and all the transportation and time spent attending courts everyday this week to obtain new dates?
And to top it off, our beloved CJ went on to say, in the same article, and I quote,
"I expect the Session Court Judge's meeting to identify factors causing delays in the disposal of cases and find ways to address them".
I think the answer is staring everyone in the face!
The Wow Factor written by Nicole Tan Lee Koon,
Thursday, March 22 2007 09:39 pm
Ambiga truly hit the bullseye on this issue. The court staff lackadaisical attitude; irresponsibility and indolence are huge contributing factors. Their boss invariably is responsible for the delay for not ensuring that a proper system is in place. The court staff does not give two hoots about the files. We lawyers pay so much for filing and yet files can go missing; documents which were filed in time are not in the file for the hearing or mention; documents are not extracted in time etc...Ambiga you truly have the wow factor...
Write comment
You must be logged in to a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.
2012 Bar Council Subscription Click the link above to download Circular 072/2012 pertaining to the 2012 Bar Council subscription, including the payment guide and a set of Frequently-Asked-Questions.
2012 Hotel Corporate Rates Attending seminars? Going for a holiday? Click on the link above to check out the list of hotel corporate rates for Members of the Bar, which is updated regularly.
Bar Council Bookshop Read MORE … but pay LE$$! Members enjoy a 20% discount on LexisNexis publications at the Bar Council Bookshop. Click on the link above for the list of available titles.
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.
News 
The right to be heard without delay is a human right.
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Circular No 109/2012: Be a Part of the Bar Council Constitutional Law Committee
Yup, I agree. A whole host of reasons may be behind the delay in Court cases. The backlog of cases is a perennial problem that appears to be incapable of a solution. To my mind, this has been a song sung so many times over that I now stands benumbed.
To blame any party for the delay is a bit over the top. But the problem must be licked without compromising the underlying principles lised out above.