Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria has reminded lawyers not to make wild or baseless allegations against judges and judicial officers.

He said the legal fraternity should refrain from doing so as the public might take such allegations seriously, which in turn could undermine the integrity of the judiciary.

He said this in his speech at the opening of the Legal Year 2012.

While Arifin did not name specific examples, he could be referring to senior lawyer Karpal Singh's campaign for action to be taken against a judge for alleged plagiarism. 

The CJ's office has subsequently cleared the judge of wrongdoing. 

Meanwhile, Arifin reminded judges and officers not to expose themselves to corrupt practices and refrain from abusing their positions.

He said judges were accountable to no one but the law which must be administered without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.

He also called on the judges and officers to continue maintaining the dignity and integrity of their office.

"We should, at all times, conduct ourselves in a manner benefitting our position in society. Always bear in mind, that your conduct, be it in your private or official capacity, is subject to public scrutiny.

"Judges must conduct trials with decorum."

Arifin disclosed there was little complaint about judges and lawyers misbehaving in court, with the introduction of audio-video recording in court.

He said any complaint received by the judiciary could be verified through the recording, thus putting to a stop, any baseless allegation made against judges and lawyers.

Meanwhile, he stressed that the judiciary would continue to look into measures to improve the criminal trial process which was hampered by too many adjournments.

Criminal trials often postponed

Arifin said previously, when criminal trials were conducted with the aid of the jury, the hearing was hardly postponed where once the trial commenced, it would proceed from start to finish in a single session.

However, nowadays, he said criminal trials were often postponed more than once before a case is finally disposed off, which was becoming the norm rather than the exception.

Arifin said a criminal trial, therefore, might take more than a year or even longer to complete.

"Take for instance, the recently-concluded Anwar Ibrahim's (sodomy) case, the trial was postponed no less than 48 times," he said.

Arifin said reasons for postponement varied but the principal reason was being lack of free dates for lawyers, adding however, whatever reasons given for postponement, the court would have to take the blame.

"I believe it is in the best interest of all concerned to put an end to this practice."

Arifin also announced that the judiciary was in the process of setting up a permanent body to be known as 'Akademi Kehakiman' (Judicial Academy) to cater to training of judges and judicial officers.

Last year, he said, 15 seminars and courses were conducted nationwide, involving eminent judges and other professionals on an ad-hoc basis.

- Bernama