The Malaysian Bar has pledged its support to Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria to combat corruption through the declaration of assets within the judiciary.

Its president, Lim Chee Wee, said the Bar would approach and work with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) whenever there was a serious hint of corruption involving its members or the Bench.

"We hope to, at least, address one serious hint soon and we acknowledge the MACC's cooperation with us on this matter," he said in his speech at the opening of the Legal Year 2013 held at the Palace of Justice here today.

Lim said, with the announcement by the chief justice that judges would declare their assets to the MACC, it would go some way to reduce the number and volume of accusations made against judges and judicial officers.

"We trust that MACC will conduct an asset verification exercise to confirm the accuracy of these asset declarations," he said.

On cases involving issues of faith, Lim said the court, which was the last frontier of conflict resolution, must always ensure that anyone and everyone had access to justice, and not prioritise personal beliefs, instead.

He said the greatest test of the judiciary’s commitment to the rule of law was the resolution of the pending sensitive and extremely difficult cases involving issues of faith.

"No matter how emotionally charged or politically laced, judges should uphold the rule of law and not prioritise personal beliefs, instead," he said.

Sentencing council

Lim said the Bar Council also welcomed the announcement by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz that the government had agreed in principle, to the establishment of a sentencing council.

"A sentencing council will promote consistency by having guidelines for judges to decide on the appropriate sentence to reflect the crime committed, proportionate to the seriousness of the offence, and would increase public understanding of sentencing," he said.

However, Lim said, the Bar Council opposed any amendment to the law to impose mandatory sentences as that would be an unnecessary fetter on the discretion of the judge and an unwarranted impediment to the free flow of justice.

"This respect for the discretion of the judge is also one of the reasons why the Malaysian Bar welcomes recent public statements by attorney-general Abdul Ghani Patail and Mohamed Nazri, calling for the abolition of the mandatory death sentence for drug-related offences," he said.

Meanwhile, Lim said the Bar Council hoped to issue licences to foreign lawyers and law firms to practise foreign law in Malaysia this year.

"This will hopefully, retain local talent, bring back foreign law work presently being done abroad, and enhance the depth of the legal profession," he said.

Concerned with the standard of an average lawyer, Lim said, he and the attorney-general had agreed to the setting up of a high-level task force to study and review the state of legal education in Malaysia and recommend how to raise standards to a level of excellence.

- Bernama