PETALING JAYA: Malaysia should have a system to prevent postponements once the trial has begun, says former Attorney-General Tan Sri Tommy Thomas.

Without naming anyone, Thomas said lawyers in Malaysia are famous for requesting hearings to be adjourned.

He is of the view that if a lawyer is sick or unable to attend court, he should be replaced by another lawyer instead of requesting for the trial to be postponed, referring to the 1MBD trial involving former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

He told Sin Chew Daily in an interview that the prosecution had done a good job but the progress of the trial was slow, which to him is common in this country, be it a criminal or civil case.

Judges and lawyers are not sufficiently focused in trials, he said.

“After the trial has begun, it must be completed, whether the hearing is to last for five days, ten days or three months.

“We do not have a system for trials to begin and end in one go,” he lamented.

Citing examples, he said renowned tennis player Boris Becker’s bankruptcy trial took only one week.

Becker was convicted of four charges under the Insolvency Act and was sentenced to jail for two years and six months by a court in the United Kingdom this April.

Ex-Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng’s 1MDB trial in Brooklyn, New York, ended in three weeks.

But in Malaysia, trials are conducted in phases and adjournments are easy to get, said Thomas.

“We must have a system to handle this systemic structural problem,” he concluded.

Read:

1. Decision to charge Sam Ke Ting is correct: former AG Thomas
2. Former AG to join ‘walk for justice’ in protest of judge under MACC probe