The High Court civil division will undergo a major reorganisation exercise on Monday, Sept 16, in an effort to ensure "uniformity, expeditious and efficient disposal of cases with optimum use of judicial time".

Family matters will, however, be exempted from the exercise which is expected to substantially reduce the civil case backlog.

Lawyers in Kuala Lumpur were issued letters this week pertaining to the abolition of the seven existing numbered courts, whose functions will be streamlined.

Chief Justice Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah, the head of the Malaysian judiciary, is scheduled to officially launch the new system on Oct 1.

A lawyer's boon

In the letter dated Sept 11 sent by the KL Bar Committee, a copy of which was obtained by malaysiakini , lawyers were informed of the revamp which involves the breaking up of the civil court's function into fast track and normal track.

Instead of the seven numbered courts now, there will be five* fast track courts dealing with applications based on affidavit evidence and two normal track courts for applications based on oral evidence.

Serving civil division judges will be assigned to either of the courts. Justices Azmel Ma'amor, Abdul Malik Ishak and Abdul Hamid Said will be in the fast track courts while Yaacob Ismail and Heliliah Mohd Yusof will sit in the normal track courts.

"Case management for each legal application is to ascertain the case is clearly defined, issue or issues explicitly determined and all relevant supporting documents are filed," read the notice issued by High Court judge James Foong.

He also said that prior to the implementation of the system, "all part-heard cases before any of the judges will continue to be heard by the same judge until final disposal, irrespective of whether the judge is in the fast track court of the final track court".

This move is expected to save lawyers' time, which has been the main problem with lawyers due to the different directives they receive in different courts under the present system.

The new procedures are also expected to provide uniformity in case management because only one managing judge is responsible for setting the matter down for trial.

Foong, who heads the civil division, has been appointed as the managing judge in charge of assigning the applications to the fast track or normal track courts.

The judge will be assisted by a team of deputy assistant registrars assigned to seven different registries, each headed by a senior assistant registrar.

These registries, also to be reorganised as coded units, will deal with specific areas such as applications by way of writ, defamation and cases involving the government, originating summons, originating motion, land matters, letters of administration and probate.

Administrative changes

The revamp will also enable the easy identification of delays in the disposal of civil cases, if any.

** The exercise, part of continuing efforts taken to enhance the administration of justice which the judiciary had undertaken a couple of years ago, is the implementation of the new Order 34 of the Rules of the High Court which came into force on Sept 22, 2000.

In his speech at last year's Bar Council annual dinner, Mohamed Dzaiddin had explained that the Rules were amended to facilitate access to justice, purportedly prevented by high costs, uncertainty, complexity, inequality and delay.

He had also described court delays as "most insidious" and "an affront to justice".

On the part of the government, de facto Law Minister Dr Rais Yatim had also proposed revamping the administration of justice through an in-depth report to be presented to the Cabinet.

The report, aimed at improving the overall administration of justice in the country, is to include recommendations on how to overcome the problems, shortcomings and weaknesses of the justice system and to restore public confidence in its administration.

It encompasses the administration of the judiciary, Attorney-General's Chambers, the police and other enforcement agencies.

Errata:

*There are three fast track courts, not five.

**It has been pointed out that the exercise is not part of Order 34, which is pre-trial case management.

The errors are regretted.