PUTRAJAYA: The increase in the Industrial Court's new caseload from 1,657 in 2022 to 1,822 last year underscores the urgent need for institutional reform within the legal system.
Human Resources Minister Steven Sim said the vast majority of these cases involved unfair dismissals, amounting to 1,474 cases in 2023.
He said the total number of cases at the Industrial Court last year was 5,463, with only 2,376 cases being successfully resolved.
Sim said while reform was imperative, it must be approached as an ongoing process necessitating continuous enhancements and improvements across operational procedures, infrastructure processes, and legal policies.
"We recently initiated one of the long-awaited reforms by addressing the tenure of the court chairman. This adjustment holds importance as court chairmen serve as an integral components of the industrial court, acting as tribunal judges.
"Through this enhancement, I believe we have demonstrated the ministry's and the industrial court institution's unwavering commitment to continuous improvement.
"It's imperative to adapt practices in line with evolving circumstances and the passage of time. Therefore, reform remains an ongoing journey," he told reporters after attending the Colloquium of Legal Reform & Management of the Industrial Court of Malaysia.
Sim added that the colloquium was also part of their effort to gather hands-on and contributive ideas for reforming the Industrial Court.
He said this colloquium would act as a platform to gather legal experts, whether from government or employer representatives.
"Worker representatives and legal practitioners specialising in industrial relations are also involved, providing their insights, ideas, suggestions, and recommendations for the improvement and empowerment of the industrial court.
"Among the things discussed was the need to enhance interpretation services for the Industrial court, upgrading the court recording systems, and one of our efforts this year is to upgrade the digital court system."
Also present at the event was the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) M. Kulasegaran.