“Every member of the judiciary must possess qualities of integrity, competency and efficiency while always keeping in mind that we are not beholden to anybody or anything but the law,” Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said in her New Year message.

Tengku Maimun, who became the first woman judge to helm the judiciary last year, said without these key qualities, justice would not be truly served and “we would have failed in our duty.”

It is learnt that this is the first time the head of judiciary is delivering a statement of this nature as the tradition of hosting the Opening of the Legal Year in January could not be held due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

She assured the public that justice will be carried out according to the law, without fear or favour.

“Court decisions are based on what the law says and what the evidence proves. There is no place in court for suspicion, bias or favouritism.

“Judges and all judicial officers are free to apply the law without regard to the wishes of any particular group or the weight of public opinion,” she said.

Tengku Maimun said the bench would endeavour to guarantee liberty; to resolve legal disputes efficiently and impartially; to provide for equal protection to all regardless of background; and to ensure the due process of law.

“We will maintain a strong and independent judiciary – a key source of the rule of law and promote public confidence in the judiciary, both through our judgments and impartial hearings,” she added.

Tengku Maimun said the judiciary, not being a political institution, did not crave praise or public recognition but the institution did, however, thrive and draw its strength from the public’s confidence in it.

She said it had always been the case that judiciaries in adversarial systems did not respond to criticisms except in a limited sense through their judgments.

“The pandemic has urged us to consider that the judiciary must nonetheless play a proactive role in communication especially with the advent of social media,” she added.

Tengku Maimun said due to the initial movement control order and the reluctance of parties to have their cases heard online, the judiciary was now facing a backlog of cases.

She hopes to address the issue by increasing the frequency of sittings and by increasing the number of cases fixed per sitting.