Malaysia Judiciary and UNDP launch IFCE report

March 26, 2019

Friday, March 22, 2019 ~ The Malaysian Judiciary and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), launched the International Framework on Court Excellence (IFCE) report.

The report is a framework to be used to identify entry points for judiciary reform, In line with the new government’s reform agenda. The report was launched by Chief Justice Tan Sri Richard Malanjum and Niloy Banerjee, UNDP Resident Representative in Malaysia witnessed by over 100 members of the judiciary.

Richard Malanjum described the report as ‘medical report for the judiciary’ as the report is a self-assessment conducted in late 2018 to look at key areas of the court’s performance and its public perception.

UNDP supported the Malaysian judiciary to undertake a self- assessment survey based on the IFCE framework, as well as UNDP’s Judicial Integrity Checklist. About 600 of the 700 members of the judiciary completed this comprehensive checklist. Following this, UNDP supported the judiciary to undertake a prioritization workshop last October attended by about 60 senior members of the judiciary. The workshop resulted in this comprehensive report launched today that lays out the areas necessary for reform of the justice sector.

Among the key areas to be improved are court leadership and management, court planning and policies, court resources (human material and finance), court proceedings and procedures, client needs and satisfaction, affordable and accessible court services, and public trust and confidence.

Niloy Banerjee said, “The reforms are inline with the Government’s reform agenda. UNDP has partnered the government for 62 years in development initiatives, however, this is the first time UNDP has provided technical support to the judiciary and we hope that this partnership will continue.”