Embrace technology, says CJ

Malanjum urges legal professionals to improve judiciary system

PUTRAJAYA: The Chief Justice has called on legal professionals to embrace the use of technology in efforts to have an effective Judiciary system.

Tan Sri Richard Malanjum said the use of technology was the only way to tackle problems such as cramped parking space, the distance between interstate courts, and heavy bags.

“We responded ( to the problems) with the use of technology. We are on the 4th Industrial Revolution. We must adapt to be able to compete successfully,” he said in his speech at the Opening of the Legal Year 2019 at a hotel here yesterday.

Malanjum said there was no other way in moving forward as technology was the only way to go. “Adapt or be dropped,” he added. For the past year, the Judiciary has seen the implementation of e-review in case management at the appellate level.

No more lining up by lawyers from 9am onwards. They can do case management from the comfort of their office or home.

“For the other courts, the system will be extended by March this year,” said Malanjum.

He also said he took note of the increasing price of flight tickets and hotel rates.

“These can increase the burden of clients and the public. We also noted the traffic jam on the Federal Highway between Kuala Lumpur and Shah Alam,” he said.

To tackle this, he said video conferencing service will be available between Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Shah Alam by the end of this month and will be expanded to other areas later.

Malanjum also envisioned the courts to be using less paper by June.

Lawyers should no longer be car- rying bundles of documents to the court.

“All files will be in the form of virtual files within the Case Management System (CMS). Imagine coming to court carrying just your tablet,” he said.

Yesterday, 500 guests comprising High Court judicial commissioners, High Court judges, Court of Appeal judges, Federal Court judges, higher management of the office of the Federal Court Chief Registrar and judicial officers attended the Opening of the Legal Year 2019.

During the ceremony, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of law, Datuk Liew Vui Keong, launched a book entitled Judicial Review Guide for Public Officers: An Introduction.

The book can be downloaded from the judiciary’s website ( www. kehakiman.gov.my). PETALING JAYA: De facto law minister Datuk Liew Vui Keong demonstrated that he remains a strong supporter of the abolition of the death penalty despite experiencing a heart-wrenching family loss in the hands of a murderer about 40 years ago.

He said his cousin’s murderer has yet to be brought to justice but he has managed to move on years after learning that his cousin had been murdered when they were both 17.

Liew, who is Batu Sapi MP, was studying in Britain when he lost his cousin.

“His mutilated body was found in a river, and I had the same feeling any victim’s family would have. Anger, sadness, emptiness and numbness.

“I demanded answers but there were none. Finding forgiveness plays a big part (in closure) but it isn’t easy to say to the victims. It is a journey we would have to take,” he said at the Death Penalty Conference organised by The Malaysian Coalition Against the Death Penalty at Monash University in Bandar Sunway.

He also said the government had met with families of victims and offenders on death row in its process to gather views and perspective from various stakeholders and revealed that they were surprised to find out that death row inmates are not immediately executed.

Instead, they would have to go through several court processes before they are finally executed and are held in a cell measuring 100sq ft (about 9.29sq m) in a high security prison pending their sentence.

“When they learned this, some families said that keeping the inmate in prison is a better alternative as executing the convict would be too easy,” he said.

Liew also said that the paper for the abolition of the death penalty was ready to be tabled at the next Parliament meeting in March.

Abolishing the death penalty was one of the commitments made in the Pakatan Harapan manifesto in the 14th general election.

Separately, Liew said the government could amend existing laws or introduce new ones to better protect the monarchy after action was taken on a few individuals who left insulting remarks about the Yang di-Pertuan Agong following his resignation on Sunday.