KUALA LUMPUR, 10 Nov 2008: The Syariah Judicial Department of Malaysia is planning to carry out hearings on weekends to clear the backlog of cases in Syariah Court, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.
He said the department, which is responsible for the court’s coordination and administration, had also issued directives to speed up the disposal of cases.
Statistics showed that there were still 344,221 syariah cases pending since 2006 while the number of cases disposed of during the same period was 182,782.
Replying to a written question from Datuk Juslie Ajirol (BN-Libaran), Abdullah said that on the whole the Syariah Court did not face problems related to backlog of cases.
He said that a study by UIAM Interpreneurs showed that between 1998 and 2001, some 93.7% of the cases involving annulment of marriages had been disposed of in less than a year.
Abdullah said Syariah judges who presided over the cases were chosen among experienced Syariah officers who had previously held various senior posts. — Bernama
