Syariah Courts face judge shortage, some handle 30 cases daily

KUALA LUMPUR: A shortage of Syariah Court judges is limiting the number of cases that can be heard, with some judges having to handle up to 30 cases a day.

Syariah Judiciary Department senior director (judiciary) Abu Suffian Abu Yaziz said the shortage had created a need to increase the number of judges to handle the overall Syariah Court caseload.

"In terms of alimony claims, we do give priority to them, but when it comes to all other matters and claims, there is indeed a need to increase the number of Syariah Court judges.

"For example, judges in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor are unable to handle a large number of trials. Sometimes, a judge has to handle up to 30 cases a day, when each trial requires attention to an individual case," he said.

However, Abu Suffian said the Syariah Courts had taken several measures to ensure alimony claims could be handled more efficiently.

He said Kuala Lumpur, for example, had a Special Alimony Division at the Syariah Lower Court dedicated to hearing such cases, with a judge specifically assigned to handle the proceedings.

"However, this does not mean alimony claims are handled only by one division or one judge. Other judges also handle such cases because we want to ensure they are competent in handling them," he said.

Meanwhile, he said Kuala Lumpur also had a Special Hadhanah Court at the Syariah High Court dedicated to child custody cases.

"The Hadhanah Court initially had one courtroom, and we have now increased this to two courtrooms to help expedite the handling of hadhanah cases," he said.

Abu Suffian said the Syariah Courts also prioritised the enforcement of alimony orders, including through the establishment of the Family Support Division.

He said the Family Support Division was among the measures taken to help enforce and implement alimony orders promptly.

Need to increase judges

Meanwhile, Selangor Chief Syarie Judge Nenney Shuhaidah Shamsuddin said a shortage of judges was the main constraint in efforts to expedite the resolution of cases at the state's Syariah High Court.

She said various measures had been implemented to streamline case management processes, including digitising documents, online registration and reducing the use of paper.

"In Selangor, the constraint is that we do not have enough judges. I believe that if we increase the number of judges, we can speed things up and resolve cases quickly.

"We have done all sorts of things. We have introduced paperless documents, expedited court registration and enabled online registration. We want to move all processes towards digitalisation," she said.

Nenney Shuhaidah said financial constraints had also prevented several proposals to upgrade court facilities, including technology systems in courtrooms, from being fully implemented.

She said the estimated cost of upgrading a courtroom to a system similar to that used in civil courts was about RM500,000.

"Even just adding judges would be enough. I have said that if we add judges, we can speed things up and resolve cases quickly. Just add judges and I can guarantee that we can expedite the process and resolve cases.

"We can shorten the period to a maximum of one and a half years. That is why I can guarantee that adding judges will help. But getting judges is the difficult part," she said.

She said the situation had resulted in the Syariah Courts facing negative perceptions, as delays in cases were often attributed to court performance, when a lack of manpower was among the factors limiting their case-handling capacity.

"Imagine, we are accused of being slow. The Syariah Courts are always accused of being slow. It takes a long time to get the money, and that is difficult," she said.

It was previously reported that a shortage of Syariah High Court judges was among the factors causing thousands of cases involving Muslim couples in Selangor, particularly claims involving matrimonial property and child custody, to remain pending.

Currently, only five Syariah High Court judges are serving in the state, with each having to handle an average of about 1,000 cases a year.

This has resulted in the court being able to resolve about 70 per cent of cases registered in the current year, while about 30 per cent are carried forward to the following year.