CJ retires, PM keeps successor a secret for now

PETALING JAYA: Tan Sri Richard Malanjum (pic) will clock out for good as Chief Justice this afternoon.

But his successor has still not been publicly named.

Asked about it yesterday, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he would not disclose who the candidate was.

“I already have a candidate. We will tell you who it is later,” he said when asked who Malanjum’s successor would be.

Dr Mahathir said this to the media after officially launching the Malaysia Autoshow 2019 organised by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and Malaysia Automotive Robotics and IoT Institute in Serdang.

Malanjum, who will turn 67 on Oct 13, has served in the top position for the past nine months.

The Sabahan is currently serving a six-month extension allowed under the Federal Constitution which ends today.

In response to a query by The Star, Malanjum said he had one parting advice for his fellow judges: “To all my fellow judges, give your best, expect nothing.

“As for me, I will continue to help the unfortunate and marginalised in whatever way possible.”

Sworn-in as the new Chief Justice on July 11 last year, Malanjum has made much improvement and wasted no time with transformation within the judiciary.

The steps taken included tackling corruption by declaring judges’ assets, not accepting gifts for himself and setting up a collegiate for self-governance where there is a collective leadership and collective decision-making process by the top four judges – namely the Chief Justice, the Court of Appeal president and the two chief judges of Malaya, and Sabah and Sarawak.

Spot checks have also been carried out from time to time by Malanjum and the other top three judges for continuous improvement and efficiency in the administrative and adjudication process.

Malanjum introduced a time sheet for management of judicial time and the E-court reforms where public service delivery is enhanced with the online balloting system, where case assignment and judges’ assignments are done by the system with no human intervention to avoid any accusations of choosing judges or courts.

E-review, an online case management system without the physical presence of parties, is also in place. This allows lawyers and their clients to spend their time more meaningfully while waiting for their turn in court.

Malanjum, who is the former Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, replaced Tun Md Raus Sharif who resigned the same month.