Counsel cannot expect good judgements unless they themselves come out with convincing, logical arguments, Chief Justice Zaki Azmi said today.

All this suggested the importance of training which must begin the day a student joined the law faculty, he added.

"The Bar has been advocating that judges should be more radical in some of their decision making.

"But in our common law practice, the ideas for developing a law must come from the counsel's submission," Zaki said after witnessing the swearing-in ceremony at the Palace of Justice.

Zaki said that the promotion and confirmation of judges were not based on seniority alone.

"The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) look at the quality and judicial temperament of the individuals. In order to be internationally recognised, the judiciary must be manned by the highest grade of judges.

"Business people today do not look only at business opportunities but also at the branches of the government, including the judiciary," he said.

Zaki said that lawyers, based on what he had heard from them, were happy with the integrity of the judiciary today.

"They have not heard of anything negative since 2008. I am sure many if not all agree that the Malaysian judiciary is now free of any criticism or accusation of bias or partiality," he said.

At today's ceremony, a Federal Court judge, five Court of Appeal judges and three High Court judges took their oath of office.

Suriyadi Halim Omar, 60, is the new Federal Court judge. He was appointed Court of Appeal judge in 2006.

The new Court of Appeal judges are Azahar Mohamed, Balia Yusuf Wahi, Alizatul Khair Osman Khairuddin, Aziah Ali, all from the Kuala Lumpur High Court, and Linton Albert, from the Kuching High Court.

All of them took their oath of office before Court of Appeal president Alauddin Mohd Sheriff.

The new High Court judges were High Court judicial commissioners in Muar, Shah Alam and Johor Bahru. They are Umi Kalthum Abdul Majid, Akhtar Tahir and Hue Siew Kheng.

They took their oath before Chief Judge of Malaya Arifin Zakaria.

Also present was Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Richard Malanjum.

- Bernama