“I hope the Bar will join us in this,” he said. “Part of the reason why the public has a negative perception of the judiciary is because lawyers drop the names of judges to impress their clients.”

Adding that such action could be destructive to the judiciary, he claimed there are other lawyers who collect money to reduce the penalties in criminal cases.

Even worse, he said, there are some who ask their clients for money in order to settle the case.

“The lawyer says, give me so much money and I will share it with the magistrate, judge, prosecuting officer and policemen.

“I pray that this has not happened, but can you imagine the impact on the client, especially those who do not understand the legal system?” he said.

The top judge, who is scheduled to retire next month, was speaking at the launch of a joint report by the United Nations Development Programme and the judiciary on the assessment of the justice administrative system.

He gave other examples, including of lawyers who claim they can reduce fines, for instance from RM10,000 to RM2,000.

“The lawyer knows the trend (of sentencing),” he said. “These are the things that are troubling because they have a negative connotation on the judiciary.”

He urged the judiciary to address the issue, saying it has so far failed to do this effectively unlike other countries such as Singapore.

“They have a good public relations office, and personnel to deal with the media, especially social media,” he said.

He also noted the lack of budget allocation to handle the matter.

“We can work day and night, but we will fail if we cannot communicate our achievements to the world. I hope this issue can be addressed,” he said.

On a separate matter, Malanjum said the courts have a timeline in expediting criminal trials and appeals, including for corruption cases.

He said this also depends on the lawyers appearing for accused persons.

“We are only one of the hands, the other being the lawyers who seek adjournments. What can the court do?” he said.

He added that cases take a long time to complete when lawyers ask many questions.

“But we have to give them the chance because the liberty of their clients is at stake,” he added.

He was responding to the Prime Minister’s Department’s plan to set up a special High Court and Court of Appeal to deal with corruption cases, to speed up trials and appeals.