Chief Judge of Malaya Hashim Hamzah said the new judicial commissioners were appointed strategically to states and towns where judicial resources were most needed.PUTRAJAYA: Chief Judge of Malaya Hashim Hamzah has moved swiftly to strengthen the High Courts outside the Klang Valley by deploying additional judicial commissioners to ease the backlog of civil and criminal cases.In one of the judiciary's biggest manpower exercises in recent years, 17 new judicial commissioners were appointed last week, bringing the total number nationwide to 50.Hashim said the appointments were strategically made to states and towns where judicial resources were most needed.He told FMT new judicial commissioners have been posted to the High Courts in Butterworth, Kuala Terengganu and Temerloh, each of which had until now operated with only one High Court judge handling both civil and criminal matters.He said Muar and Kuantan will each have three judges. Another judicial commissioner has also been assigned to the Shah Alam High Court, increasing its judicial strength to 25 to help cope with its heavy caseload.The latest appointments also coincide with the expansion of Perak’s High Court system.A week ago, the new Tapah High Court, presided over by judicial commissioner Zaman Nor, began operations, making Perak the only state in Peninsular Malaysia with High Courts in three major towns – Ipoh, Taiping and Tapah.Judicial commissioner Norhayati Ahmad has been posted to the Kuala Terengganu High Court, becoming the first woman judge to serve in the state.Meanwhile, judicial commissioner Tengku Amir Zaki Tengku Abdul Rahman has been assigned to the Kota Bharu High Court to fill the vacancy left by a judge who resigned. The court will now be staffed by one High Court judge and two judicial commissioners.The latest reshuffle comes as the judiciary grapples with a sustained rise in litigation.At the opening of the legal year earlier this year, Chief Justice Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh said Malaysia's continued economic growth, socio-economic transformation and changing societal dynamics had driven a significant increase in case filings at every level of the courts.He said criminal case registrations rose by 63.37% from 1,522,005 in 2021 to 2,486,567 by November 2025, while civil case registrations increased by 59.54% from 303,335 to 483,933 over the same period.Describing the trend as st…
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