Chief Justice Richard Malanjum Retires

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Chief Justice Richard Malanjum retires today after serving 27 years in the judiciary
Malanjum, the first Sabahan to hold the judiciary's top post, served as Chief Justice for nine months, and 12 years as the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak
He attained his constitutional retirement age of 66 years in October last year and was given a six-month extension which ended today
“To all my fellow judges, give your best, expect nothing
“As for me, I will continue to help the unfortunate and marginalised in whatever way possible.” were his parting words
Malanjum was sworn in as the ninth Chief Justice on July 11 last year, replacing Md Raus Sharif who resigned in the same month
According to his special aide Mohd Aizuddin Zolkeply, Malanjum has taken leave earlier this week and is currently abroad
Malanjum joined the judicial service in 1992 as a Judicial Commissioner. He eventually became a High Court Judge and was later appointed as Court of Appeal Judge and subsequently, Federal Court Judge
Malanjum introduced a concept of a joint and group management, where the judges holding the top four posts (Chief Justice, Court of Appeal president, Chief Judge of Malaya, and Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak) were given equal power and responsibility in all matters pertaining to policy and inclusion in the management of the judiciary
He also introduced a ‘timesheet system’ in Peninsular courts, a computerised system to encourage effective management of the court's time among judges and judiciary officers
That system was earlier established by Malanjum in the Sabah and Sarawak courts when he was the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak
Malanjum also introduced the e-review, an online case management system without the physical presence of parties in a court case for case management
In order to avoid any allegation and negative elements in the allocation of cases and selection of a panel of judges, Malanjum introduced the selection of the panel of Federal Court judges by balloting to hear cases in the Federal Court
He also made changes regarding the number of judges to sit on the Federal Court panel to hear constitutional cases and public interest cases
- Bernama

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