<figure id="attachment_3128273" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3128273" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3128273 size-full" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/221467d7-7_wan_ahmad_farid_wan_salleh_moganraj_fmt_06082025-copy.webp" alt="WAN AHMAD FARID WAN SALLEH - CJ - COURT OF APPEAL" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3128273" class="wp-caption-text">Chief Justice Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh said the cases held up in the Court of Appeal due to unavailable grounds of judgment are mostly civil.</figcaption></figure>
KUALA LUMPUR: Chief Justice Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh says judges who cannot perform in a &#8220;timely manner&#8221; can opt out from their constitutional roles.
In a speech at the opening of the legal year today, he said judges were duty-bound to provide their grounds of judgment according to eight-week deadlines.
&#8220;I understand some lawyers who have filed appeals are frustrated because they cannot get the appeals court to proceed with their cases due to no grounds of judgment.
&#8220;I know there are many unwritten grounds of judgment. And there are limits to what we can do to help (judges) who are struggling.
&#8220;We cannot allow the machinery of justice to be clogged. You know who you are,&#8221; said Wan Ahmad Farid.
He likened the cases pending in the appeals court to dishes in an open kitchen, saying it was up to the judges in &#8220;service&#8221; to hear and dispose of cases in a timely manner.
&#8220;If the heat is no longer to your liking, an exit remains a dignified option,&#8221; he said.
Wan Ahmad Farid later told reporters that it was up to those who heard his speech today – judges, court staff and lawyers from the government and private practice – to interpret its meaning.
He also said the cases held up in the Court of Appeal due to unavailable grounds of judgment were mostly civil.
&#8220;We have the numbers (of cases), but we are not disclosing them,&#8221; he added.
On a separate matter, Wan Ahmad Farid said the judiciary did not respond to public criticism of its judgments, even in the recent cases involving former prime minister Najib Razak.
He also said that critics should &#8220;read our written judgments&#8221; to understand court rulings.

MatchPoint Times

Quit the kitchen if you can’t take the heat, CJ tells judges

Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh reminds judges that they are duty-bound to provide their grounds of judgment within eight weeks of their rulings.

Jika tak tahan tekanan, berundurlah, CJ tegur hakim

Zahid tak boleh didakwa lagi, kata AG berkait kes Yayasan Akalbudi