PJ Court Complex to enforce greater social distancing on premises

The Petaling Jaya Courts Complex will enforce greater social distancing on its premises following complaints from lawyers and members of the public.

This promise was made by a member of the complex's administration to Malaysiakini today in response to concerns of overcrowding in the public benches at the Registration Counter room on the ground floor of the complex.

Wishing to remain anonymous, the court official said that the overcrowding today was caused by many people who came for new cases at the Magistrates' and Sessions Courts there.

He reiterated that the complex had practised social distancing since the first phase of the movement control order (MCO) period but the overcrowding today was due to so many people entering the room for new cases.

“We have even put notices on the benches to remind the public to practise social distancing. However, the notices have come off due to so many people coming and sitting on the benches,” he told Malaysiakini today.

Starting tomorrow, only around 10 people will be allowed to come into the (Registration Counter) room. We are also looking into whether to add an additional guard to monitor the situation,” he said.

Earlier this morning, checks by Malaysiakini between 8.50am and 9.30am showed that the Registration Counter room was full of people and members of their families awaiting for registration of new criminal cases, some of which have to do with alleged breaches of MCO.

The people were sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, which is far less than the one-metre social distancing requirement issued by the authorities as part of the national effort to curb the further spread of the Covid-19 outbreak.

During this early hour of the morning, Malaysiakini did not see any police officer, security guard or court staff telling some of the people on the overcrowded benches to wait in the corridor in order to ensure a safe physical distance between those waiting.

A woman outside the Registration Counter room was overheard remarking “Where got social distancing” to another person as she looked at the crowded room.

Lawyer Zaflee Pakwanteh, who had arrived there before 8.30am confirmed the overcrowding at the Registration Counter room, adding that the packed benches were also caused by certain lawyers who used them, confounding the situation.

“The court must look into this as it is part of public policy. It was packed since early this morning. It cannot be like this.

“You arrest people for breaching the MCO, so this (overcrowding at the Registration Counter) cannot be allowed. There should be a police officer placed nearby so can issue a reminder to members of the public to observe social distancing,” he told Malaysiakini.

“The chief registrar needs to look into this,” Zaflee added.

The lawyer was then seen informing a police officer about the matter, who then went inside the Registration Counter room and informed the people inside to practice social distancing.

However a short while after the police officer left, the room began to crowd up again with people sitting on the public benches.

Another lawyer, New Sin Yew, told Malaysiakini that the overcrowding was caused by the influx of MCO-violation cases brought to court following the authorities moving back from the compound-only policy for MCO violators to hauling them to court to be charged.

“It is not a solution at all by charging people in court because it will create a concentration of people on the court premises. That defeats and is counterproductive to the other measures taken under the MCO,” New told Malaysiakini.

He said that the issue is pertinent as it involves the risk of Covid-19 infection spreading among not only members of the public but also lawyers and court staff.

New said among the methods that the government could take to resolve the matter was by increasing approaches to raise public awareness on the importance of observing social distancing and abiding by the MCO.

“There is a need to educate people, to speak to them to raise awareness of how they could contribute to decreasing the infection.

“We are in for the long haul, so charging them (the MCO-violators) in court is not going to help,” New said.

Meanwhile, checks by Malaysiakini showed that social distancing is practised and enforced within the courtrooms at the Petaling Jaya Courts Complex.

Earlier today in the Magistrates' Court before proceedings began, whenever four or five people were observed sitting on the bench in the public gallery, a court police officer would be seen informing them that some of them needed to wait outside the court in order to observe social distancing.

“This is too close. Some of you please wait outside. I can call you (when the person’s case is called up at the Magistrates' Court). There should only be two or three people per bench,” the police officer told the packed public gallery.

Some people were then seen exiting the court gallery to wait outside for their cases to be called up.

Half-an-hour later when more people were found to have entered the court and sat on the benches and resulting again in a packed public gallery, the same police officer was seen approaching them and raising his voice to remind them on the need for social distancing.

“I have already said earlier. Some of you need to wait outside. I will call you in (when their case comes up before the magistrate). I can even shout if need to (so the people waiting outside can hear),” the police officer said sternly.

This resulted in several people again leaving the court to wait outside for their cases to be called up, leaving the in-court public gallery benches only having two or three people at a time.

When Magistrate Zhafran Rahim Hamzah entered the courtroom for proceedings to begin, social distancing was seen observed in the public gallery with each bench only having two or three people who sat apart from each other. - Mkini