In a land renowned for its kangaroo courts and leap-frogging judges, the Year of the Monkey holds special significance for the judiciary.

For a start, after dilly-dallying for several months, the Court of Appeal consisting of justices Pajan Singh Gill, Richard Malanjum and Hashim Yusof ushered in the Chinese New Year by delivering a judgment that was 'historic' on many counts.

For the first time in Bolehland it took three judges of a Court of Appeal as long as nine months to deliver a verdict on a bail application which a solitary magistrate could normally dispose in nine minutes.

Public perception has been right all along - it was a case of how low, and how long, the judges could go in throwing a monkey wrench at the bail application of jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.