A meeting was held between the Malacca Bench and Bar on 16th January, 2209 at the Conference room of Malacca High Court.
Datuk Wira Mohtarudin welcomed the committee members who were present at the meeting and an introduction of the judicial officers and their respective portfolios ensued. Datuk Wira Mohtarudin expressed his hope that the Bench and Bar would continue working together to dispense justice, more so since Datuk Halijah bte Abbas has been transferred to Malacca to hold the position as Judicial Commissioner in High Court 2.
Ng Kong Peng, the Chairman of the Malacca Bar thanked members of the Bench for having allocated time to meet the committee members and Datuk Wira Mohtarudin for responding promptly to arrange for a meeting with the Malacca Bar. He noted that the Malacca Bar was grateful to have a second High Court judge since the elevation of Datuk Wira Low Hop Bing.
Ng said the Bar was thankful for the arrangement of additional parking lots located behind the court premises. Datuk Mohtarudin informed that as there are now ample parking lots near the court premises, he had spoken to the Ketua Polis Negeri who advised members of the Bar not to park on the road shoulder outside the Court complex as summons will be issued.
On a different note, Ng further added that in criminal cases accused persons who are not able to afford legal representatives sometimes find it difficult to locate the Malacca Legal Aid centre. He therefore suggested that having a map of the Legal Aid centre on the court notice board would be very useful. Datuk Wira Mohtarudin agreed with this suggestion and authorized the putting up of the said map.
On the issue of lawyers having difficulties ascertaining which particular case is heard before Deputy Registrar and Senior Assistant Registrar, Ng raised the suggestion of putting up a central board for court listings for the convenience of the lawyers as well as the public at large. Datuk Wira Mohtarudin agreed to the proposal and noted that he will look into the putting up of the said board adjacent to the existing notice board.
The final issue was on the Chief Justice of Malaysia’s directive stating that there will no longer be part heard cases. Datuk Wira Mohtarudin emphasized that while adhering closely to the instructions of the CJM, it is important that justice must be uphold at the same time. He informed that the Judges’ Conference will be held in March and hopes to find a solution for the problem. Members of the Bar were reminded to follow the directive and to be prepared for the changes in the system. The Bar hopes the Bench would exercise their discretion when hearing part heard cases. Datuk Wira Mohtarudin also highlighted that the Bench and Bar should co-operate with each other and should avoid unnecessary postponement of cases.
The meeting ended with light refreshment prepared by the Bench.
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