Getting her legal perspective: Tengku Maimun (left) at the Negri Sembilan Bar Law Conference in Seremban. — Bernama
SEREMBAN: Lawyers have increasingly tried to get leave to appeal to the Federal Court in cases that do not qualify to be heard, says Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat.
The top judge said many of those cases did not meet the threshold required under Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964.
“It is starting to become an unhealthy norm for some lawyers to file application upon application no matter how unmeritorious or trivial it is.
“The result is the diversion of valuable but limited judicial time away from good work,” she said.
Citing an example of applications for leave to appeal to the Federal Court, she said it was also obvious that the leave questions were becoming increasingly long and repetitive to the extent that they become rather perplexing.
Tengku Maimun said she had also experienced having to go through leave applications with at least 20 questions, with each one worded substantially the same as the previous one.
“Why does this happen? I can only assume at the worst that it is an underhanded litigation tactic.
“Again, the art of advocacy includes the ability of the lawyer to tell his or her client what actually needs to be appealed and the actual questions of law that need the Federal Court’s pressing attention,” she said.
She said if a lawyer files a complicated leave application with the intention of sneaking his or her way past Section 96, it can only mean that the person did so to impress their client without due regard to their overriding duty to the court.
Tengku Maimun said this would drown out the cases that actually deserve leave to appeal.
“Of course, I am aware that it may not necessarily be an underhanded manoeuvre and it might just be reminiscent of an overzealous or overly careful lawyer intending not to leave any stone unturned.
“But again, I would respectfully advise that a healthy balance ought to be achieved between cautiousness on the one side and the confidence of the lawyer in his own ability on the other,” she said in her keynote address at the Negri Sembilan Bar Law Conference held to mark its 60th anniversary.
Also present were Chief Judge of Malaya Datuk Seri Hasnah Mohamed Hashim, Federal Court, Court of Appeal and High court judges, and Negri Sembilan Bar chairman Marisa Regina Aris Rizal Christopher Fernando.
She added that when citing cases, lawyers must do it with a proper understanding of the law, not intentionally misleading the court with overruled propositions and fully and frankly disclosing all the relevant facts.
One aspect of integrity of a lawyer, she said, was to not abuse the process of the court.
“Without citing the plethora of cases, abuse of process is the unjustified and unreasonable use of the court proceedings or processes.
“The process of the court is abused when the proceedings are lacking in bona fides and is not only frivolous, it is also vexatious or oppressive,” she said.
She said judges too needed to be competent and diligent and that their independence, impartiality and integrity were critically important in the administration of justice.