Newly appointed Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim vowed today - in his first day as the country's top judge - to do his best to ensure that the judiciary is free of corrupt judges.

Judges who are found to be dishonest and "work for their own self benefits" will be removed, he said.

Ahmad Fairuz was speaking to reporters at the Federal Court today, hours after receiving his letter of appointment from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra at Istana Negara, Kuala Lumpur this afternoon.

He was tapped last week to replace outgoing chief justice Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah, who retired o­n Saturday after serving two-and-half years as top judge.

"An efficient judicial system must mean judges who are not corrupt, judges who are honest, who really work for the nation. We don't want judges who work for their own self benefits.

"Now that I am in this position, we (the judiciary) will do our best. In every profession, there is always the black sheep. If we find some, and if it is necessary to remove them, we will remove them...," he said.

At 62, Ahmad Fairuz will have at least three years as chief justice before his retirement. He has the option of extending his term for another six months.

The new top judge started as a magistrate in Penang in 1967. He was appointed judicial commissioner in 1988 and two years later as High Court judge. He was elevated to the Court of Appeal in 1995 and in 2000, to the Federal Court.

His rise in the judiciary has been rapid. He was appointed as the chief judge of High Court in October 2001, and a year later, promoted to the post of the Court of Appeal president.

'Write to me'

Ahmad Fairuz took the helm at a time when the judiciary suffers from a lack of public confidence as well as numerous allegations of corruption.

He said he would encourage the public to write to him personally to report o­n problems involving the judiciary, including allegations against errant judges.

He assured that the complainants' confidentiality will be respected.

"I assure that all complaints will be treated with secrecy... because all I am interested in is to try give justice to the public," he added.

"We are thankful to those people who wrote anonymously, but unfortunately we could not contact them. Whatever complaints given by the public, I am happy to receive them."

He said past experience had shown that some of the anonymous complaints had been proven right.

"I don't throw letters of complaints into the wastepaper basket. I read them, discuss with my officers who would then conduct investigations, and in some cases we found that the complaints were true," he said.

When asked to respond to previous criticism of his quick promotion within the judiciary, Ahmad Fairuz said he would let the public be the final judge.

When Ahmad Fairuz was elevated as chief judge of Malaya two years ago, the appointment came under question as he was promoted over a better qualified senior judge.

"One must also examine the person who makes the criticism. The losers will never say good things about the judge, but the winners will say all the good things. They would praise sky high o­n the judges who ruled in their favour," he said

"If the comments come from the parties to the action, it is up to you (the public) to analyse the value of such comments."

Meeting with judges, Bar Council

He also said that he would continue the work that had been set out by his predecessors in maintaining the judicial system and ensuring that the courts will not be plagued with backlog of cases.

To achieve this, the chief judge said, apart from getting feedback from the judges, he would also seek the co-operation from the 10,000-strong Bar Council and the Attorney-General's Chambers.

"I hope to be able to sit down with them and discuss what plans that need to be implemented to further create a better environment so that we can dispose off more cases," he said.

Ahmad Fairuz said he planned to meet his judges very soon.

"Maybe even tomorrow. I will also be inviting the Bar to discuss with me o­n certain matters and see if they have any complaints."