Snatch theft victim Seow Wah Yin, 76
PUTRAJAYA: Street crime cases, including snatch thefts and muggings, will be resolved as swiftly as within three days from the time they are posted in court, according to a new directive by the Chief Justice.
Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria said cases which involved accused who had pleaded guilty would be disposed within three days from the date the case was registered in court while trials would have to be completed and decided within two weeks.
Currently, courts are taking up to three months before a person who pleaded guilty is sentenced.
He said that the judiciary had discussed with the Attorney-General's Chambers to issue a practice direction to dispose street crime cases by fast tracking them through the courts.
Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail who confirmed the new move, said the directive would be implemented as soon as possible.
In an immediate response to the announcement, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said Bukit Aman would abide by the new ruling and instructed all officers to give priority to such cases without compromising on the quality of investigations.
The new ruling would effectively cause a ripple effect in the scheme of execution of case flow in that the judges would be pressuring prosecutors to hurry up with their prosecution while DPPs would in turn be pressuring the police to speed up investigations.
However, lawyers familiar with the conduct of criminal cases were not too convinced about the whole idea.
Justice Arifin gave the assurance that accused persons would not be denied the right to have a counsel of their choice to defend them.
The top judge said the move was also made to assist foreign tourists who were sometimes victims of such crimes and have to give evidence in the cases.
“This is because they (foreign tourists) will be in Malaysia for a short period. If the prosecution process takes a long time, it will definitely be difficult for them,” he said.
He said statistics from the police had shown that 19,299 street crime cases were reported last year and that 80% of the accused in such crimes pleaded guilty to the offences.
Justice Arifin also suggested to judges to put a copy of their oath on their office tables to remind them of their responsibilities and promises.He said that the abuse of power in the freedom of judiciary would affect the perception and confidence level of society against them.
“To always remind us of the oath and promise, I suggest that all of you put a copy of your oath on the office table so that we will always remember our responsibilities and promises of holding this position," he said in his speech at the oath-taking ceremony for five judicial commissioners here yesterday.
The five judicial commissioners were Dr Alwi Abdul Wahab, 48 (whose last position was as the Chief Justice's special officer 1); Ahmad Bache, 57 (a Sessions Court judge); lawyer Datuk Mohd Firuz Jaffril, 47; legal adviser Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, 48 and Industrial Court chairman Gabriel Gubis Humen, 59.
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