Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 20): Open hearings of criminal cases will continue to be held during the movement control order period, the chief justice said today. 

Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat (pictured) said priority will be given to pre-2020 criminal cases, especially those with adjourned hearings.  

Priority will also be accorded to criminal cases involving child offenders and public interest including corruption, commercial crime, environmental, habeas corpus applications, domestic violence, as well as violations of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988, she said. 

"Nevertheless, the court has the discretion to determine the cases to be conducted in open court during the implementation of the MCO," she said in a letter to judges and magistrates, sighted by The Edge.

Tengku Maimun said case management can be carried out physically or through long-distance communication technology, as deemed suitable for the case and the parties involved.  

Meanwhile, all hearings of applications in chambers for criminal cases will be made in open court, or by using communication technology.  

Before criminal proceedings begin, Tengku Maimun said the court should ensure that no one else is allowed to attend the hearing except for the accused and two family members or friends, a deputy public prosecutor, a defence lawyer, and any witnesses involved.  

"At any one time, only two witnesses are allowed to wait in the witness room in compliance with the physical distancing requirements," she added.

Edited ByS Kanagaraju
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