Increasingly complicated cases call for wider knowledge, says Taib

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KUCHING: Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud has urged lawyers to be knowledgeable beyond their profession to keep up with increasingly complex cases.

INFORMATION: Taib listening to an explanation from a court staff (right) as (from left) Malanjun, Dr Chan and Asfia look on.

INFORMATION: Taib listening to an explanation from a court staff (right) as (from left) Malanjun, Dr Chan and Asfia look on.

He said the number of cases handled by lawyers nowadays could reach 500 per year, compared to about 50 cases some 46 years back.

To add to the increasing number of cases handled by lawyers, Taib pointed out that civil cases for example were getting more complicated in nature and lawyers must be well-informed of changing trends to be able to efficiently handle such cases.

He said not only were civil cases getting more complicated, lands issues, copyrights and contracts also needed a lot of extra efforts from lawyers in terms of equipping themselves with the right amount of knowledge to give such cases the right treatment.

“It is a great challenge for lawyers to settle cases which are becoming more complicated nowadays, so lawyers must be prepared to deepen and widen their scope of knowledge to ensure justice is done and seen to be done,” he said after visiting the High Court here where he also had a tele-conferencing with courts in Bintulu, Sibu and Miri.

He asked lawyers to look 10 years ahead in terms of equipping themselves with the right amount of knowledge and skill to ensure that they would be able to do justice to their clients. Accompanying him were Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan, State Assembly speaker Dato Sri Mohamad Asfia Awang Nassar and Semariang assemblywoman Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali.

Also present was Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjun.

On the need for cases to be heard and settled faster, Taib said “justice would become dim if cases were dragged too long”.

On the judiciary, he said the system had improved in the last 20 to 30 years and that the number of cases solved was almost ten-fold.

He said the tele-conferencing was the latest development to enhance the system.