Lawyers say no to court KPIs

KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 — Lawyers appear to be heading for a showdown with the chief justice over his use of key performance indicators (KPIs) in courts which they say, must be withdrawn.

The Malaysian Bar said today KPIs — introduced two years ago to speed up case disposal and clear the existing backlog — must be removed as they encouraged “rushed” justice.

The professional body had earlier passed a near-unanimous motion of no confidence in Chief Justice Tun Zaki Azmi’s (picture) KPI measures at the 65th annual general meeting (AGM) held here today.

“This resolution is a culmination at the height of the frustration of our members,” newly-elected Bar Council president Lim Chee Wee told reporters.

He said despite talks between the Bar Council and Zaki, judges and judicial officers still “misbehaved” in order to meet the KPI requirements, which in turn affected the administration of justice.

Lim said courts sometimes brought forward hearing dates without counsel’s consent, rushed to close cases and failed to give enough time for lawyers to prepare a defence in criminal trials involving serious offences.

Lawyers were “crying out” as they were not being given enough time to interview witnesses, prepare written submissions or draft appeals due to the current “compacted” nature of court proceedings, he said.

“We’re all human beings. We’re not robots,” he said.

Lim pointed out that judges were also human and similarly needed time to read, think, listen and write grounds for their decisions.

“When you have rushed justice, quality will be the casualty,” he said, stressing that no litigant wishes that his case be resolved quickly at the expense of good preparation.

He also said the Bar Council will stage a protest if Zaki did not heed its request to abandon KPIs, to be formally presented to the chief justice next week.

However, he declined to specify what form this protest will take, saying only that the Bar Council’s response would depend on Zaki’s answer.

“We have to keep knocking and knocking on the door until such time it opens. Whether or not we want to kick the door down, that’s something we need to look at,” he said.

The Bar Council is also mulling action against judges and judicial officers who “misbehave”, Lim added. - Malaysian Insider