Appoint senior lawyers directly as judges, ex-Bar chiefs urge

There are many experienced practitioners with the capacity and expertise to dispose of delicate civil and criminal cases expeditiously.

They told FMT that many senior and mid-level practitioners possess the capacity and expertise to handle complex civil and criminal cases efficiently.

History has shown that lawyers have left strong service records both on the bench and in judicial administration, they said.

Ragunath Kesavan said there was a sufficient pool of candidates with diverse expertise among the 27,000 lawyers nationwide suitable for permanent seats on the benches of the High Court and Court of Appeal.

He said lawyers such as VC George, Mahadev Shankar, Zaki Azmi and the late Gopal Sri Ram left an indelible mark as judges despite being appointed without going through a “probation period” as JCs.

“Zaki was appointed straight to the Federal Court and made chief justice. He is best remembered for introducing information technology to the judiciary and formulating strategies in clearing the backlog of cases,” he said.

He said former lawyers such as Mah Weng Kwai, Ariff Yusoff, Darryl Goon and Nallini Pathmanathan, who served as JCs, were noted for producing prolific judgments.

The number of criminal cases registered in the lower and High Courts nationwide surged by about 63% from 1.5 million in 2021 to 2.5 million last year.

Civil case registrations increased from 303,335 to 483,933 cases during the same period.

Established in 2009, the JAC’s present practice is to appoint lawyers and judicial officers from the government as judicial commissioners, effectively placing them on probation for anywhere between two and four years before making them judges.

Ragunath, who served as Bar president between 2009 and 2011, said the recent 30% salary increase for superior court judges, 10 years after the last revision, could woo more lawyers to serve the bench.

The monthly basic salary for High Court judges is RM34,450, while Court of Appeal judges get RM35,750. They also enjoy other allowances and perks.

“But judges’ remuneration must be adjusted with annual increments to cater for inflation, not after 10 years,” Ragunath said.

He added that non-performing judges could be persuaded to resign, as has been done in the past. At the same time, the chief justice could also set up a tribunal to try judges accused of misconduct.

Salim Bashir pointed out that the constitution currently, allows the attorney-general to be appointed directly to the Federal Court, with the appointment of the solicitor-general to the Court of Appeal a matter of convention.

“Making it compulsory for lawyers to go through a probation period risks turning away the best legal brains from the judiciary,” said Salim, who led the Bar between 2020 and 2021.

Salim said drawing a wide selection of candidates from the Bar would also help in promoting public confidence in the judiciary.

“Senior lawyers who possess good character and have immense specialised knowledge in related fields of law should be appointed superior court judges as security of tenure is vital,” he said.

He added that there was no limit on how many judicial commissioners may be appointed.

However, the Federal Constitution currently only allows for the appointment of 11 Federal Court judges, 32 Court of Appeal judges, and 94 in the High Court of Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak.

“The government should amend the constitution to allow for more judges to be appointed,” said Salim.