Chief Justice Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah reminded judges to act more professionally so as to restore the public confidence in the judiciary and to give justice to the people.

He said that the erosion of confidence in the judiciary has also deterred foreign investments in the country.

"Multinational corporations and foreign investors are reluctant to invest because they perceive there is no level playing field in the courts," he told 71 judges and judicial commissioners at a closed session meeting this morning.

He added that the multinationals and foreign investors preferred arbitration outside Malaysia in the event of disputes.

Bomb hoax

Even a bomb hoax at the hotel where the conference was held did not stop Dzaiddin from outlining the tasks ahead for the judges to overcome the negative perception of the judiciary in his speech.

Apparently the hotel received a phone call that there was a bomb in the premises early in the morning.

The police bomb squad was immediately called in to search the bomb but an all clear sign was given after nothing was found.

One senior judge said Dzaiddin's speech was hard hitting and "there were some red faces on the crowd".

This was Dzaiddin's first official meeting with all the judges since he took over from Eusoff Chin at the helm of the judiciary on Dec 20.

Dzaiddin proposed that judicial training for the judges to ensure judicial excellence was one way to restore public confidence.

"I would like to see proper training in the skills necessary for new judges and continuing training for sitting judges in order to keep abreast with the latest developments in the law and practice," he said.

He said that there has never been formal training for judges, adding that judicial competence cannot be instantly acquired.

He added that most Commonwealth countries have institutes to cater for judicial training and that "we could study their programme and learn from their experience."

Overseas sojourns

Dzaiddin also said that judges too would be sent to attend advanced courses and seminars overseas.

"The government is receptive to this idea which provide opportunities for judges to improve themselves and therefore enhancing their judicial performance," he added.

He said that he has had initial talks with de facto law minister Dr Rais Yatim regarding these two matters as "we require funds to start" the programmes.

Dzaiddin also said that the next Judges' Conference in May will discuss two papers on "The College of Judges" and on "The Law Academy".

The College of Judges, he said, is a small group of inner circle of senior judges who will advise the chief justice on judiciary matters.

"They could also advise on the choice of candidates to be appointed to the judiciary or to be promoted," he said.

The Law Academy will be the place for everyone involved in the judiciary to meet and exchange ideas, said Dzaiddin.

Rais' proposals

Rais had previously expressed the need of a judicial advancement on par with other Commonwealth countries and suggested the need for judges to go on a sojourn as well the creation of a Law Academy.

He told malaysiakini in an interview last month that there was a need to have periodic exposure of judges ([#2] Not easy to bring changes[/#] , Jan 2).

"We might want a sojourn like having our judges being placed in universities in the UK and New Zealand or other Commonwealth countries. This will help them exercise and keep afresh their legal mind."

"We would like to see the creation of the law academy - for everyone to congregate and not to be cocooned all the time. There is one in Singapore that has worked very well," said Rais.

Quality judgments

Dzaiddin also told the judges to write more quality judgments by giving reasons for their judgments.

He said the process of reasoning reflected the principles, the law and the logic employed by the judges.

He also reiterated that judges must deliver their written judgments within six weeks after delivering their oral decisions.

Dzaiddin told the judges to upgrade their computer skills so that they can use their personal computers for research purposes.

On the need to tackle the backlog of cases, Dzaiddin said this was one of his priorities in improving judicial administration.

He said that he proposed to form a task force headed by the chief registrar of the Federal Court to assist him in monitoring the progress of speeding up and disposal of backlog of cases and the appeals at all levels.

New appointments

However, Dzaiddin refused to comment on the appointment of judges to fill the vacancies at the Federal Court and on the replacement for Court of Appeal president justice Lamin Yunus, who is retiring in March.

He merely said that he was looking into some names as possible candidates for all vacancies.

He also said that he has delegated powers of running the High Courts to the Chief Judge of High Court Wan Adnan Ismail.

"I am only in charge of policies," said Dzaidddin, adding that one of the first things he asked Wan Adnan was to revert to the old format of distributing civil cases evenly at High Courts.

At present, certain types of cases are heard by specific judges only.

All defamation cases in Kuala Lumpur High Courts are heard by justice RK Nathan and in Shah Alam, defamation cases are only heard by justice Low Hop Bing.

Dzaiddin said that with the new directive, all types of cases will be distributed equally to all civil judges.

Normalise relations

On the Bench and Bar relationship, Dzaiddin told his judges that there should be a cordial relationship and a mutual respect between the two.

"We must work together with the common object of improving the administration of justice and the integrity of the judiciary and the Bar," he said.

He added that he wanted whatever acrimony between the Bench and the Bar be forgotten.

He reminded the judges to uphold their dignity, to be ethical and honest.

Stressing that his mission was to bring judiciary back to its past glories, he said that the judges must "be decorous in our behaviour inside and outside of the court."

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