KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 — The Cabinet has approved the proposal to separate the judicial and legal services commission, Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria said.

"But it has yet to be implemented,” Arifin, who has been calling for the separation since last year, was quoted as saying by The Star.

The Cabinet approval would mean that judges and magistrates from the lower courts, namely the Sessions Court and Magistrate Court, will no longer come under the Legal Services Commission, which is headed by the Attorney General.

Arifin previously pointed out the possible conflict of interest as prosecutors who appear in lower courts will be appearing before judges and magistrates who are in the same service, which is headed by the AG.

"The prosecutors are all under the AG, and they appear before a sessions court judge or magistrate who is under the same service where the AG is the head. It doesn’t look good, does it?” he was quoted as saying.

Arifin had wanted the Chief Registrar of the Federal Court to head the Judicial Services Commission, which means the service would now have two separate divisions -- legal and judicial.