KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 — The Malaysian Bar today lauded the government’s announcement to add more courtrooms dedicated to hear corruption cases.
However, the association representing lawyers in the peninsula urged the government to ensure the courtrooms would not be used selectively to fast-track past corruption cases.
“The rot of corruption must be stamped out. Acts of public corruption are a violation of public trust, and deprive citizens of State resources that should be used for public benefit instead of being pocketed for personal gain.
“The mandate of these specialised courts must be to mete out justice for offences, whether past, present or future,” Malaysian Bar president Datuk Abdul Fareed Abdul Gafoor said in a statement.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad made the Cabinet committee announcement on the additional special corruption courts on March 19.
Yesterday, the National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption under the Prime Minister’s Department explained that the addition at the Sessions Court level is to deal with a backlog of cases.
Next, the Cabinet committee will look to see if the law would need to be revised if the government forms such dedicated corruption courts at the higher level.
Abdul Fareed pointed out that special courts for corruption cases were not unprecedented as similar courts have been set up in several countries including the Philippines and Thailand.
“In 2011, several Sessions Courts throughout Malaysia were already designated as special courts for corruption cases — a move that garnered positive recognition internationally,” he said.
Yesterday the Chief Justice of Malaya Tan Sri Richard Malanjum said there were currently 16 special corruption courts nationwide at the Sessions Court level and the judiciary has been asking for such additional courts to enable cases to be disposed of quickly.
