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PETALING JAYA: The MCO during the Covid-19 pandemic had been a blessing in disguise for the judiciary as it forced it to opt for digitization without compromising the administration of justice, says Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat (Photo).
In his New Year’s message, which was 20 pages long, Tengku Maimun said that next year, traffic violators may not need to go to court to solve their cases and that they can do everything online.
He also listed the various ways the judiciary has evolved and future plans for how cases will be heard in the future.
He noted that amendments to the law have allowed the courts to have the power to hold hearings online.
“These laws came into force on October 22 and since then, the consent of the parties has not been as significant.
“The Rules Committee also recently approved amendments to the 2012 Rules of the Court, the 1995 Federal Court Rules and the 1994 Rules of the Court of Appeal to regulate and prescribe the procedure on conducting online hearings,” said Tengku Maimun .
Despite opposition from senior lawyers, he noted that with applications such as the e-Court platform with the help of e-Review, e-Filing and e-Lelong, online hearings managed to take place in major court complexes.
She said the superior and subordinate courts will also be updated soon to use the e-Court platform.
“The electronic appeal mechanism has received rave reviews. In the past, lawyers consulted their own document packages and waited for judges to catch up on their benchmark. Now both judges and attorneys share a common screen with their documents ready and prepared in advance. During the hearing, the attorneys, usually through their junior attorneys, navigate the screen and direct the judges directly to the passage in question. Save time and paper and ensure that everyone in court is literally on the same page at all times.
“In December 2020, we piloted a similar project in selected courtrooms at the Kuala Lumpur High Court. We call this project ‘e-Bicara’, in which all appeals, criminal and civil, emanating from subordinate courts are heard without papers.
“In 2021, this will be extended to all branches of the High Court in Malaya,” said Tengku Maimun, who acknowledged the Bar Association’s reservations in this regard.
He said the newly inserted Order 33A of the 2012 Rules of Court, which went into effect on December 15, contains specific procedures on how online trials will be conducted.
“But even before Order 33A came into effect, the Kuala Lumpur High Court had successfully conducted online witness cross-examination. No process is perfect, but we have to move forward together over time, ”said Tengku Maimun.
She said online admissions to the bar, breaking with tradition, is a new experience for budding attorneys.
Tengku Maimun said that starting Friday (January 1), the courts will strictly adhere to the written submissions that will be delivered 14 days before the hearings.
This, he says, will allow the judges to make quality decisions by having read the submissions in advance.
“However, in reality, most lawyers, both private and in the Legal Service, do not meet this requirement. Most present their presentations the day before or even on the morning of the hearing.
“Practical instructions are issued to facilitate the administration of justice.
“All submissions filed outside of the 14 day period without court permission will be automatically rejected.
“To clarify, the parties whose written submissions were rejected for not complying with the schedule will nevertheless have the opportunity to address the Court through oral submissions.
“Regarding requests for permission to appeal, we will limit oral presentations to 20 minutes per party (excluding the time it takes the court to ask questions). Licensing motions should not function as an appeal.
“Aside from constitutional and public interest cases that have seven or nine member panels, all other cases – civil and criminal cases – are now handled by a three member panel.
“The Judiciary has also proposed amendments to the law to limit certain interlocutory appeals. Consequently, we are working on a bill to amend the Judicial Courts Act of 1964.
“The amendment seeks to prohibit appeals against the dismissal of requests for summary judgment or the annulment of allegations.
“Another initiative we take to improve efficiency is to delegate the work of the Superior Court judges to the Sessions Court judges when possible.
“As of November 1, 2020, selected Sessions Court judges have been appointed to hear these family law matters,” he added.
He pointed out that the large volume of trafficking cases has justified that the judiciary simplify the process of disposition of trafficking cases in terms of digitization.
“The Judicial Power’s plan for 2021 is to digitize the taking of guilty pleas in traffic cases and allow the payment of fines electronically.
“In order to reduce unnecessary foot traffic and improve access to justice and the efficiency of the courts of first instance, we propose, in addition to the method of pleading guilty by letter, to allow the admission of allegations and to impose the penalty of fines only, to through a prescribed electronic system.
“The digitization of traffic cases complements e-Jamin, a system that allows the payment of the deposit online and that has been fully operational. We are also exploring the possibility of introducing a feature that allows the accused person against whom a fine is imposed to pay the fine through e-Jamin, ”said Tengku Maimun.
He said that with the use of technology throughout the judicial hierarchy, lawyers and litigants no longer need to bring many documents to court.
“One only needs to carry a laptop or an i-Pad. To facilitate OTC transactions, we have also implemented the use of QR codes for authentication of court documents, “he added.
He also said the voice-to-text and recording system will free judges from having to transcribe notes from the proceedings.
He also said that in keeping with transparency and the era of social media, the judiciary even broadcast court proceedings and ceremonies for the elevation of judges.
“For the Judiciary, there is a tone of truth in the phrase ‘adversity generates innovation’. I would say that we have accomplished more in one year than in the last decade when comparing the time taken to implement our initial reforms of the electronic Court.
“I thank all stakeholders, the Attorney General, Legal Service officials and members of the Malaysian Bar Association, the Sabah Law Society, the Sarawak Defenders Association and the public who have supported these positive changes.” Tengku Maimun said.
In addition, he expressed his appreciation and gratitude to his fellow judges and his court support staff for their continued support and commitment.
“Obviously, there is a lot of work to be done.
“Due to the initial MCO and the parties’ reluctance to have their cases heard online, we are now facing a backlog of cases.
“We hope to fix the delay by increasing the frequency of sessions and increasing the number of cases settled per session. And in this sense, the Judiciary certainly needs more support and synergy from all stakeholders, ”said Tengku Maimun.
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