By Yasmin Ramlan
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 16 – Former Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Ariff Md Yusof said the Chief Justice’s warning over delays in delivering written judgements should be understood in the context of judges’ heavy workloads, emphasising that quality judicial decisions require fewer cases per judge, more judicial appointments and better specialisation.
Ariff said judges often struggle to complete written judgements on time due to the large number of cases they handle daily.
“People forget that judges have got a very heavy load to start with,” he said when met after the book launch of ‘Putting Everything in Its Proper Place’, at Zezz Residence in Country Heights, yesterday, adding that this makes it difficult for them to have all judgements ready on time.
On January 12, Chief Justice Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Ahmad Salleh gave a stern warning to judges who delay delivering their grounds of judgement and to step down if they fail to do so.
In his speech at the opening of the Legal Year 2026, Wan Ahmad Farid acknowledged the increasing number of cases at the High Courts and said that writing judgements was an integral part of a judge’s work, reflecting their duty to explain the reasons behind their decisions.
He also stated that this ensures that parties, especially those dissatisfied with the outcome, understand why they won or lost and can exercise their right to appeal when appropriate.
Ariff explained that while shorter judgement could help speed up delivery, this was not always possible especially in complex cases.
Not easy, but doable
Recalling his time in the judiciary, Ariff said High Court judges could hear between 15 to 17 cases a day, while Court of Appeal judges might hear around 20 appeals daily.
“So imagine if they have to write judgements on every case, it takes a lot from them,” he said, adding that although it is possible, it is often challenging.
To address this issue, Ariff said workloads should be reduced and judicial specialisation strengthened.
“If you reduce the workload a bit and allow for specialisation, you can speed up the delivery of judgements and the delivery of written decisions,” he said.
Ariff also recommended the need for commercial cases to be heard by judges well-versed in commercial law and criminal cases by those with criminal expertise.
He also stated that increasing the number of judges was necessary to ease pressure on the judiciary.
While judges could be pushed to meet deadlines, Ariff emphasised that timelines should not come at the expense of substance.
“Written judgment is not per se the only problem. It’s the writing of written judgements of quality,” he said.
