Justice Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah today took office as the new Chief Justice of Malaysia and said that his immediate task is "to put our house in order".

He added that he would also try to reduce the backlog of cases and make the courts more accessible.

"(I will) try to improve the services given to the people by reducing the delay of court processing, minimise the backlog of cases and above all make the courts more accessible," he said in a statement after receiving his appointment letter from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong at Istana Negara in the afternoon.

Dzaiddin, 63, who replaces Eusoff Chin whose term expired yesterday, said that he realised that he has plenty of work to do in the next couple of years to "repair the damage".

"It is in the interest of everyone that the administration of justice should function well and the courts are efficient," he added.

Policy proposals later

Later at the Federal Court complex, Dzaiddin told reporters that he will only outline his proposals to improve the administration of justice and to restore the public confidence in the judiciary after he had met his judges.

He is scheduled to meet his judges on Jan 13.

He also said that he was looking forward to having a better working relationship with the Bar, the newly appointed Attorney-General Ainum Mohd Saaid, and all other concerned parties.

He said that such a strong relationship was essential especially in the administration of justice.

He refused to comment on future appointments to fill the vacancies in the Federal Court and the Court of Appeal or on the criteria he would use to fill up those vacancies.

Dzaiddin also said that he will be meeting the de facto Law Minister Dr Rais Yatim, adding that the meeting will only take place after he has met with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Significant appointment

Dzaiddin's appointment is seen as a significant step towards improving the much-maligned image of the Malaysian judiciary.

Bar Council chairman Sulaiman Abdullah was reported as saying that Dzaiddin was an"even-handed" man and his appointment will revive the credibility of the judiciary.

"The Bar is confident he will stand up for the (people's) rights and he will bring back many of the practices that seem to have been abandoned in the recent past so that the dignity of the judiciary is maintained and respected."

Sulaiman said the "rule of law and respect for the judiciary and the institution of justice will be very much improved" with Dzaiddin's appointment.

Sterling icon

Rais had said that Dzaiddin will be "a sterling icon" for the judiciary.

Dzaiddin was born on Sept 16, 1937, in Arau, Perlis, and had worked as a reporter for a local newspaper before going overseas to study law in 1961. In between he was also attached with the police force as a police inspector for five years.

After reading law at Middle Temple in 1966 and being called to the Malaysian Bar in early 1967, Dzaiddin practised at the Kota Baru office of a firm owned by Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen and Raja Aziz Addruse.

He became a High Court judge in 1982 and was appointed to the bench of the Federal Court, the highest court, in 1993.

He was appointed to the High Court at the same time as Eusoff, the person whom he succeeded, on Oct 1, 1982.

Dzaiddin is married to Tengku Noriah Tengku Ismail. The couple have two children.