KL confirms new chief justice

KL confirms new chief justice

KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): The Malaysian government confirmed the appointment of a new chief justice on Thursday in a move legal experts hope will restore the integrity of a judiciary criticized at home and abroad after the convictions of former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.

Mohamad Dzaiddin Abdullah, 63, a former journalist who has served as a High Court judge since 1982, succeeds Eusoff Chin, who had come under fire by critics who alleged his independence had been compromised when he was photographed on a foreign holiday with an influential lawyer.

The new chief justice will also be taking over an overburdened judiciary.

On Thursday, a government official told Parliament that more than 700,000 cases were pending at various levels.

The backlog in high courts was 55,073 cases (53,442 civil and 1,631 criminal); in sessions court 90,749 cases (87,746 and 3,003); and in magistrate's courts 553,695 cases (171,892 civil, 55,210 criminal and 326,593 traffic police summonses).