AG: Be mindful of 'hurried' justice

Though disposal of cases has improved since the introduction of the Key Performance Index (KPI) to the judiciary, still we must be mindful of being overzealous, cautioned Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail.

Speaking at the inaugural opening of the Legal Year 2010 in Putrajaya this morning, the AG, however, said that the KPI move was deemed necessary to ensure the clearing of the backlog of cases.

"The rigorous implementation of the KPI by the chief justice (Zaki Azmi) and his team of judges have now born fruit with the successful result of achieving a high disposal rate of cases.

"Judges, lawyers, deputy public prosecutors (DPP), and federal counsel are working tirelessly not to postpone cases but to proceed with the hearing.

"Such concerted efforts had led to the reduction of the waiting period for parties involved in cases which is most welcome by the public," said Abdul Gani ( left ) before 500-odd legal practitioners.

Despite the positive results, he added, one still has to be mindful that there could be a possibility of injustice if the implementation is "overzealous".

"(This happens) when a judge orders a trial to proceed even though a lawyer or DPP who conducts the case is very ill or a judge ordering a case which was earlier fixed for another date to be brought back for trial without sufficient notice to the lawyer or the DPP," he said.

With regards to the expeditious disposal of cases, he said, the Attorney-General's Chambers is looking into the possibility of enacting legislation providing for criminal cases management at pre-trial conferences.

"This also includes plea bargaining which can contribute to speedy resolution of cases as clamoured for by the public," he said.

In order to ensure justice for all, Abdul Gani said there must always be a balance between the maxim ‘justice delayed is justice denied' and the ‘justice hurried is justice buried' maxim.

"On this note, it cannot be over emphasised that the concept of justice is grounded on the basic principle of equality, fairness and rule of law and the AG is committed to the rule of law so that justice could be given to all," he said.

Bar Council grateful

Meanwhile, Bar Council president K Ragunath ( below ) recalled some notable developments in 2009, one of which was a "notorious" for the manner in which judges implemented the KPI.

"The notorious development I had referred to was the implementation of KPI which had caused many problems for our practitioners.

"The journey of implementing such changes, initiated after decades of relative inactivity, surely will not be without both bumps and potholes," he said.

However, he was grateful that the problems faced by lawyers in courts "have been largely been resolved and continued to be addressed."

The introduction of the KPI had sparked controversy when the Bar Council last month held an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to protest the decision.

According to the resolutions passed, the lawyers expressed concern over the possibility of miscarriage of justice if the bench was forced to expedite the trials just to fulfil the KPI.

Although they lauded the move to reduce the backlog, the Bar Council felt that the introduction had limited the role of judges to exercise their power to grant postponements for valid and strong reasons.

Chief justice: We will look into it

Later during today's event, the chief justice defended the expediting of trial cases, saying that the courts have long been burdened with backlogs and delays, resulting in injustice to a lot of innocent parties.

"As has been widely publicised throughout 2009 that the judiciary had taken active and bold steps in overcoming these delays and expediting the disposal of cases. This was, and still is, our main priority.

"Over and over again, the public has been crying for speedy justice," he said.

He added that although some viewed the Bar Council's recent EGM as an "affront to the judiciary", he however viewed it as "an avenue where disgruntled members can air their views and the council given the chance to explain".

"Whatever could not be explained could be brought to my attention... a discussion between both parties would allow the party against whom any accusation is made is given the right of hearing immediately.

"When lawyers say that there is a problem, I believe that there is truly a problem. Any problem brought to my attention, however small, will be looked into immediately," he said.

The three-hour event this morning also saw the presence of the former chief justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad, Court of Appeal president Alauddin Mohd Sheriff, Chief Justice of Malaya Arifin Zakaria and Chief Justice of Sabah and Sarawak Richard Malanjum.

Also present were deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department Liew Vui Keong and newly-appointed Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief Abu Kassim Mohamad.