{"id":7662,"date":"2020-05-29T23:56:27","date_gmt":"2020-05-29T15:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alexchanglaw.com\/?p=7662"},"modified":"2024-11-25T14:38:52","modified_gmt":"2024-11-25T06:38:52","slug":"courts-open-cmco-staggered-jaryne-lam-hui-jun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alexchanglaw.com\/index.php\/courts-open-cmco-staggered-jaryne-lam-hui-jun\/","title":{"rendered":"Courts open cmco staggered"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A taste of court’s hearing in the High Court of Kuala Lumpur during the\nConditional Movement Control Order (“CMCO”)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

After years of studying law, I have\nnever had the chance to step in to the High Court of Kuala Lumpur to witness\nthe court hearings with my own eyes, needless to say, sitting in the Open Court\nwith permission, being introduced as Mr Alex Chang’s pupil, I would say that I\nwas extremely nervous for attending court as it was no doubt my virgin\nexperience!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winding Up a Billion Ringgit Company <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The hearing was about a winding up proceeding which Mr Alex Chang was acting for the petitioner. This winding up, attracted more than 20 parties, seeking for the liquidation of a company that is ranked Top 5 in the world, in its field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A matter of this nature needless to say, is heavily contested, multiple applications were filed, including the appointment of an interim (provisional) liquidator. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judicial Manager vs Interim Liquidator<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There were various other obstacles mounted such as for the appointment of a judicial manager to stifle the appointment of the interim liquidator which was eventually overcame by the firm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surprisingly, the interlocutory hearing for a Summons in Chambers was rather short, approximately 15 to 20 mins, and it appears to be less formal to me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is worth mentioning that the\ncourtroom was not crowded due to the strict Standard Operating Procedure\n(“SOP” ) imposed post-Movement Control Order (“MCO” ).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re-Opening of Courts<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Hence, a Conditional Movement Control\nOrder (“CMCO”) has been implemented and taken into effect on 13th May\n2020, which allows the re-opening of Courts. However, Strict Operating\nProcedure (“SOP”) and guidelines are to be followed in reference to\nCircular that was issued by the Chief Registrar of the Federal Court. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

http:\/\/www.kehakiman.gov.my\/en\/node\/2931<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entrance<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I found out that the court did abide\nby the SOP and has taken the precautions very seriously. The court management\nhas prepared three separate entrances, one for public, while the other two are\nreserved for lawyers and press. Before entering the main entrance, there was\nbody temperature scanning, and parties are advised not to attend court if they\nare feeling unwell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sanitisers, Face Mask<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There were also plenty of hand sanitisers being provided and to be used after the temperature screening. Besides, visitors are required to fill in the court’s visitor form prior to entering, for contact tracing purpose. However, it should also be noted that visitors should bring and wear their own face mask as it is not provided by the Courts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Staggered Hearings<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Apart from that, court room benches are also marked with a red X’ at a distance of a metre apart to observe social distancing. The hearings are conducted in staggered times, for example, lawyers are required to leave the court room after they are done presenting his\/her case following the respective time slots fixed. It was indeed a great move taken by the court to contain the spread of Covid 19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preparation Before Hearings<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On a side note, I have learnt that a\nlot of preparation are needed to be done before a hearing even though it is a\nshort one. Out of my curiosity, I have asked Mr Chang regarding to the absence\nof the other parties’ counsel as what I thought is that every parties should\nhave attended to the court on behalf of their clients, be it small or big case.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Chang, in answering to my\nquestions, told me that he made the effort to call the other parties’ counsel\nto know their decision, whether they have no objection, further helping them to\nmention it in the court. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond Thankful<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In a nutshell, it was an eye opening\nexperience for me as a fresh graduate. I am beyond thankful for the opportunity\ngiven by Mr Chang, although most of the time I am in a state of confusion, and\nhave no idea on what is happening around me. However, I am excited to explore\nmore about law and I will definitely do everything I can in order to equip\nmyself with all the knowledge and skills that are to be needed as a lawyer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life is not a bed of roses, and I\ntruly appreciate that. I also admit the fact that the learning curve post- law\nschool is steep, it can be described as a “whole new world” , but all\nwe have to do in this harsh society are simple, “to learn, to adapt and to\nstrive”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multimedia Hearings<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While the pandemic continues to turn\nthe world upside down, new realisations are beginning to dawn on us. Yes, we\nare not going back to normal anymore, “we are all online” ; just like\nhow the E-review system that has been widely used in court during this\npandemic. Skype Business, Zoom, Microsoft Team are also being installed by\nbusiness owners to conduct a meeting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skype for Business the New Normal <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The fact that we are now living in an era of information explosion and the digital revolution, which clearly indicates that we must take advantage of smart technology and computers to facilitate day-to-day businesses. I am glad that I was given a chance to observe the conduct of Pre-Trial Case Management via Skype for Business. It appears that Skype for Business is emerging as the new norm for court hearings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortune Favours the Prepared Mind <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

However, during the proceeding, the opponent counsel for the Defendant in this case was repeatedly disconnected from the line. The problem of weak connection is worth highlighting. This is mainly because, if one party has been constantly dropping in and out from the call, he might not be able to catch the keywords delivered by the Judge and the other party. This will inevitably cause a serious delay in the proceeding and most importantly be detrimental to ones matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With regards to that, firms should consider investing more in smart technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goodbye Comfort Zone<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Stepping out from ones comfort zone is never easy, but once you take up the courage to do so, you will become a different but better person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Embrace the change, embrace the\nnew normal. ” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

29 May 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jaryne Lam Hui Jun<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Queen\u2019s University Belfast, United Kingdom<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A taste of court’s hearing in the High Court of Kuala Lumpur during the Conditional Movement Control Order (“CMCO”) After years of studying law, I have never had the chance to step in to the High Court of Kuala Lumpur to witness the court hearings with my own eyes, needless to say, sitting in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1804,"featured_media":11433,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[67,107],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alexchanglaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7662"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alexchanglaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alexchanglaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alexchanglaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1804"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alexchanglaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7662"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/alexchanglaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8748,"href":"https:\/\/alexchanglaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7662\/revisions\/8748"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alexchanglaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alexchanglaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alexchanglaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alexchanglaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}