Bar Council attempts to put brakes on hurried 'justice'

Justice delayed is justice denied, so the saying goes. However, will trials done in hurried fashion compromise justice?

This theme is set to take centre stage at the Bar Council's extraordinary general meeting (EGM) next Saturday.

T wo resolutions have been drawn up one by Bar Council president, Ragunath Kesavan ( right ) and the other by senior lawyer Tommy Thomas.

Thomas' resolution was seconded by another two senior lawyers - Raja Aziz Addruse and Karpal Singh - which would also be brought up at the EGM.

A look at both resolutions will show a similar characteristic "Justice must never give way to speed" and wanting Chief Justice Zaki Azmi to oversee its emphasis in the judiciary's Key Performance Index (KPI) system.

Bar Council secretary George Varughese, when contacted by Malaysiakini , said the council meeting today agreed that both motions would be tabled at the EGM.

"Both motions are essentially the same in that lawyers are worried that there will be a miscarriage of justice if judges are forced to expedite the trial of cases just to fulfill the KPI."

"While we laud the introduction of the KPI among judges to help reduce the backlog, lawyers generally feel that its introduction had limited the role of judges to exercise their powers to grant postponements if there are valid and strong reasons.

"This is not fair to lawyers and their clients."

Varughese: Problem quite serious

In citing an example, Varughese ( left ) pointed put that there are complaints of judges' not granting postponements when lawyers wanted to seek advice or consult their own experts as in criminal cases. Trial will proceed without giving them such avenues.

He said these problems are not limited to Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, the council has been receiving such complaints on a nationwide scale.

"Feedback from members revealed the problem is pretty serious throughout the country."

Nationwide there are around 12,000 lawyers, and at least 500 members' attendance is needed for the motion to be debated. The EGM is scheduled to be held at Wisma MCA next week.

Varughese also revealed that there are also complaints, albeit not many, that in some instances hearings have been allowed to go on in the absence of lawyers.

"We have got complaints that judges have allowed cases to go on without the presence of lawyers. This and the speed of conducting trials would lead to miscarriage of justice. This is what the Bar Council is worried about."

Cases, as stated in Ragunath's motion, had been expedited at the expense of fairness and the overall quality of justice, where the worry is that judges found disposing the highest number of cases is sending a wrong message about the justice system.

Ragunath also called on Zaki to immediately review the implementation of the KPI to emphasise quality and integrity over quantity in the administration of justice, and to ensure that justice is in no instance sacrificed for expediency.

On the difference of both motions, Varughese said Thomas's proposals suggested ways of approaching the problem collectively.

He has called for judges to have sole control and management of the cases and review the conduct of lawyers, and representatives of the Attorney-General's Chambers and the various state governments.

He proposed that the council make an immediate representation to the chief justice to revoke all administrative directions that have caused hardship to lawyers and their clients.

Thomas also called the Bar to oppose reliance on KPI and statistics as the principal criterion in the disposal of cases.

He also called on the Bar and the bench (judges) to work together collectively to attain substantive and procedural justice, as opposed to the obsession for the speedy disposal of cases.

The KPI system introduced by Zaki, had also seen two High Court judges silently removed from hearing cases.

These judges have been ordered to finish their outstanding cases and no more have been brought before them.