I refer to the malaysiakini report Abu Talib, It's up to CJ to stop the judicial rot . The judiciary is under siege today. Judges are supposed to be the pillars of society with good virtues as compared to other lesser mortals.

People who are selected to be judges in our esteemed courts should be first properly evaluated to make sure that they are competent this high office. Judges are supposed to uphold their oath of office and delivered a fair and just judgments to all litigants who appear before them.

Therefore it baffles the minds of law-abiding citizens to read that some judges have failed to deliver written judgments for criminal cases. It is a travesty of justice when condemned prisoners cannot appeal their sentences just because there is no written judgment. These prisoners seems to be caught in a twilight zone because some judges abjectly failed in their duties.

As the maxim goes, justice delayed is justice denied. It would be a mockery of society if these condemned men or women are freed by the apex court due to the technical reason that the lower court judges had failed to deliver written judgments even after a period of more than five years.

One is also baffled that some of the judges who are slack in their work are promoted. Apparently, a judge who has failed to deliver more than 30 written judgments was recommended to be the next Chief Judge of Malaya. How can this be?

As it is right now, the selection and promotion of judges are shrouded in secrecy and only the chief justice is privy to these exercises. One would suspect that presently, judges are selected and promoted based on their close relationship with the top judge and not because of their competency in delivering sound written judgments. Even the legal fraternity has made their voice heard over the fact that some good judges are bypassed for promotion in favour of less competent ones.

The chief justice should listen to the public who want incompetent judges to be brought before a tribunal. Those found guilty of serious dereliction of duty should be removed from office. However, the public is not too confident that the chief justice will allow a tribunal to remove these recalcitrant judges.

Our judiciary was once the envy of other Commonwealth nations ever since we achieved independence 50 years ago. Judges of the bygone era were selected due to their good virtues and those who appeared before them could expect fair judgments. Judges then were also very highly regarded in society.

The rot in the judiciary can be traced back to 1988 when good judges were removed from office because of their independent stand. Even now, the people's perception of independence of the judiciary is one of cynicism. The latest incident of judges failing to write written judgments for criminal cases where the accused were sent to the gallows is a shame to the nation.

To think that we are celebrating our 50th year of independence and yet all the arms of the government including the executive, parliament and the judiciary are full of incompetent people who are either on the take or abusing their power. This doesn't bode well for our future.