Circular No 142/2021
Dated 22 Apr 2021                

To Members of the Malaysian Bar

Meeting with the Judiciary on 30 Mar 2021

On 30 Mar 2021, a meeting was held between the Malaysian Bar (“the Bar”) and the Judiciary.

The Bar Council Court Liaison Committee (“CLC”) attended the meeting for the Malaysian Bar.

The key matters deliberated and discussed during the meeting are summarised below.

(1) Updates on certain issues raised in the previous meeting on 19 Mar 2021 (Circular No 125/2021)

(a) Postponement of Petitions for Grant of Probate and Letters of Administration Cases in Kuala Lumpur

The Judiciary informed the Bar that a new protocol pertaining to such matters is in the midst of being finalised and that cases will continue to be heard physically in the interim.

All cases from the year 2020 are targeted to be cleared by April 2021.

(b) Filing deadline for Written Submissions, Bundles of Authorities and Executive Summaries (“Submissions”) in the Federal Court and Court of Appeal

To resolve the confusion on the deadline for Submissions, the Judiciary has informed us that the system will be tweaked by way of a pop-up message that will state the exact date by when the documents need to be filed.

(2) E-Review for civil cases

The Judiciary intends to make improvements by making changes to the system, after consultation with the relevant stakeholders.

The suggested improvements include making the current e-Review system, real time, with staggered hearing times; and the dates for the e-Review will also take into consideration the lawyers’ free dates.

The Judiciary informed the Bar that they will be preparing a proposal on the introduction of the new features for improvements and will be seeking the Bar’s feedback on the same.

 (3) Case Managements — Appellate Courts

The Judiciary conveyed the view that a number of lawyers attending to case managements via e-Review, do not have the free dates of their counsel, are unaware of the particulars of the matters at hand and generally are unable to assist the Court.

Members are hereby advised to be mindful of the above and to ensure that they are prepared when attending case managements.

(4) Case Managements — High Court

The Judiciary conveyed the view that there are instances of lawyers not attending the e-Review, causing the Registrars to have to fix further dates for the matter.

The Bar indicated that non-attendance of lawyers would likely be due to technical issues.

The Bar suggested that the Judiciary — together with the Bar — agree on a protocol on what lawyers should do, in such an event.

The Bar also stressed that a Registrar has no authority to strike off a matter on the basis of non-appearance, especially since the non-appearance may be caused by the system itself.

Thank you.

Shahareen Begum
Secretary
Malaysian Bar

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