This is J L A Dot Com.

Chinese soldiers training, or Kuching lawyers deluged under cases?
(picture credit: MSNBC)

The 5 Page Judgment

Keep judgments simple, judges told:

"The nation's top judge has called on his subordinates, especially trial judges, to provide simple and short written grounds.

Chief Justice Tun Zaki Azmi said their judgments could be between five and 10 pages instead of 50 to 100 pages."

It is true that Judges tend to fill up a lot of pages:

[1] reciting the relevant facts/ pleadings of both parties and quoting witnesses' testimony given at trial;

[2] repeating the submissions of both parties, in order to explain why certain arguments are accepted and others rejected;

[3] repeating the brief facts and grounds of judgments of case authorities to show why they are or are not applicable.

All this before getting to the crux of the matter and delivering their Judgments on the peculiar facts and circumstances of this case!

Shorn of all the earlier parts (facts, pleadings, evidence, submissions and authorities), a Judgment may well be reduced to 5 pages or so.

But the trade-off is significant. I fear such Judgments-in-abstract would be difficult to comprehend for outsiders unfamiliar with the case. 

To me, these parts should not be cut out as a compromise. They do not need to be.

With the leaps and bounds taken in technology, especially in the Courts today, everything I described above is one mere click away. To wit:

The Court file contains soft copies of the parties' pleadings.

The oral and documentary evidence can be read from the notes of proceedings --transcribed in real time-- and the bundles of documents.

The submissions of both parties and the cases each side relies upon are now uploaded as PDF files through the Court's e-filing portal.

In other words, this is not a pie-in-the-sky dream I'm suggesting. The technology and the database exists. The future is now.

A Judgment can be published in the Court's website with links to all the background materials.

With full transparency, Justice would be well-served.

When lawyers march...

Memories of '08   (picture credit: pixcetera)

Does human trafficking sicken you? Come learn about it

BABY SELLING RACKET EXPOSED IN KUCHING! 

(Each of the six words above will link you to a different online article. I suggest you right-click and choose to "open link in new tab" so that you don't leave this site.)  

It is indeed timely that there will be a public seminar on migrant and human trafficking issues which is co-organised by SWWS and Tenaganita. 

It will be held on Saturday 31 July from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in St Joseph's Cathedral Parish Centre (Jalan Tun Abang Haji Openg). 

Admission is free. (This is not a church event and members of the public of all religions and races are most welcome.)

Objectives of the seminar:

1. To understand the migrant scenario in Malaysia 

2. To raise awareness about human trafficking issues

3. To promote recognition of the rights of migrants

4. To address practical issues concerning migrants

5. To help create a more compassionate community

Thanks to Ann Teo who alerted me on this -- I hope to see you there!

Information wants to be Free

The Malaysian Bar - What’s missing in Selangor’s FOI law: "Information belongs to the state and to the people. It does not belong to the people in power, much the same as government treasury, buildings, resources and infrastructure do not belong to the people in power."

Kudos to Sonia Randhawa for another well-written piece. The truth, as they say, should set you free -- although it appears there are many politicians who fear the converse!

Here Comes Tomorrow

Attended a four-way video conference for case management this morning. For those of who don't know, the Sarawak Courts are the most technologically advanced in the region. This morning's case involved the Judge (Yew J) in Sibu, Plaintiff's lawyer (H Ling) in Bintulu, the 2nd Defendant's lawyer (M Sandhu) in Miri and I was holding a watching brief for the deceased 1st Defendant.

In the old days, three lawyers would have to fly in to Sibu for the five-minute session, and be out of the office for most of the day, waiting for a flight back to our respective home towns. Instead, we were all back in our offices (Sandhu was able to hop over to the Miri Court for a different trial) by 10am.

When I was a kid, the "future of law enforcement" was a tin-plated cyborg called "RoboCop". Now here I am, feeling really proud to be a part of the future of the judicial system. Thinking of all the savings in time, costs and greenhouse emissions, makes me smile...

This is JamesLoAdvocate.com

Welcome and thanks for all the congratulatory messages that have come in by email, sms and the good old fashioned telephone!

Yes, it is as exhilarating as I thought it might be, even the grinding paperwork of opening bank accounts, registering for service tax and all that.

As some of you already know, I am still working closely with George on all the existing cases of George Lo & Partners, so work continues apace. Business as usual . . .

I hope to keep this blog fresh with snippets on my practice in Kuching and, generally, on the developing law in Sarawak, so do check in here occasionally!