The chief justice has adequate powers to deal with judges who delay written judgments, said Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) chairperson Abu Talib Othman.

"It's entirely up to the CJ (chief justice) to move (on this). (Stemming) the rot is in his hands. It's (only a matter of) whether he wants to exercise the powers or not," he told malaysiakini in an interview at his office today.

The powers, he said, are provided in the Judges' Code of Conduct 1994 as well as in certain provisions in the Federal Constitution.

Abu Talib was asked to comment on two recent cases of death row prisoners failing to obtain a written judgment. The cases were highlighted by the New Straits Times .

He said that although the CJ - currently Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Halim - is not empowered to directly remove judges, he can initiate other forms of action.

(Both the code and Article 125 of the constitution allow the CJ to refer such cases to the King through the prime minister, seeking that a tribunal be set up to remove those concerned for non-perform ance of duty.)

Asked what could be done in instances of delay, Abu Talib drew from his experiences as attorney-general from 1980 to 1993.

"In my time, if this comes to my attention, I would take it straight to the CJ and urge him to address the matter," he responded firmly.

"(But) We had never come across cases of written judgments (that were delayed) for five years, particularly in a criminal matter (that involves) the capital punishment.

"You can imagine the anxiety of the convicted person languishing in death row for five long years , waiting for his appeal to be heard."

Why are they promoted?

Abu Talib said he wondered how judges could make a decision, but not follow this up with a written judgment.

"Questions which arise from this are: Did (the judge) consider the case carefully? Or does (the judge) have good basis in finding the accused guilty?" he said.

"I (also) wonder how judges who have not been providing written judgments have been promoted to the Court of Appeal and Federal Court.

"We all talk about justice to the accused and justice to the state. Cases like this is definitely about justice of the accused - went to a fair trail, convicted, was sentenced to death in a open court - but then... where is the written judgment? You deny the right for the accused to appeal."

The only time when judges were removed through a tribunal was during the 1988 judicial crisis where then lord president Salleh Abas and two other judges were sacked.

Abu Talib was the key prosecuting officer in the unprecendented move which some alleged to be politically motivated orchestrated by then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

According to NST today, the latest case of delayed written judgement involves death row prisoner Baha Jambol, 45, from Kelantan.

The former fish and vegetable vendor, who worked at the Pasir Mas market, has been in solitary confinement at the Pengkalan Chepa prison since 1998. He was convicted for drug trafficking, which carries the mandatory death penalty.

Application for court hearing filed

Yesterday, Baha filed an application to have his case heard at the Court of Appeal, without the written judgment from the Kota Bharu High Court. Despite sending 11 letters over the last nine years, he has not received a copy of the judgment.

(Applications for appeals against conviction and sentencing must be based on points of law raised in the judgment. While sentences involving the death penalty involve automatic appeal, the grounds of judgment are still required.)

Then trial judge Tengku Baharuddin Shah Tengku Mahmud is currently a member of the Court of Appeal.

Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz ( right ) said today he would consider hauling errant judges before a tribunal to face disciplinary action.

He added that he was investigating the case involving the delay in written judgment.

"My preliminary investigation showed that the particular judge read out his grounds of decision in open court in 2002. But I don't know what happened after that. So we got to check. There must be something wrong somewhere," he said.