KUALA LUMPUR: The Industrial Court made history today by appointing Pravin Kaur Jessy as its first female chairman from the Sikh community.
Pravin, 52, is an expert in industrial relations law from Penang.
She, along with Chow Siew Lin, 59, received their letters of appointment from Human Resources Minister Steven Sim Chee Keong at the Industrial Court in Wisma Perkeso, here.
Sim said Pravin and Chow will be chairman of the Industrial Court respectively for four years effective today.
Their appointments, he said, came after a delay of six months, and a year and five months for each position.
He said their appointments raise the number of female chairman to eight from a total 22 chairmen, and this exceeded the 30 per cent quota from the total tribunal.
"The four-year appointment is to ensure the security of tenure to the chairman so that they can carry out their duties smoothly and to provide efficiency to the industrial court process.
"The longer tenure, compared to the previous two years, will ensure all court matters, processes and hearings, will proceed," he said.
Sim said the issue of the two year tenure had been debated in the parliament where a past industrial court chairman said the matter had been discussed for 25 years.
Sim said the issue was finally resolved within 100 days of him helming the ministry.
"We are proud that more women are now given the opportunity to become Industrial Court chairman.
"I am confident, regardless of gender or race, all chairmen will conduct their duties well.
"I expect them to uphold justice and equity within the industrial court system," he added.
Meanwhile, Pravin, who comes from a family of lawyers, said she has been practising for 29 years in the industrial relations law and has handled cases from the Labour Court, right up to the Federal Court.
The mother of triplets, aged 17, said she saw her appointment as a natural progression.
Pravin said as she had previously represented both employers and employees, she could bring a better perspective and provide balance to the industrial court.
While on the bench, she will strive to ensure equity and good conscience continues to prevail at the court, which is an important aspect of the law.
"In terms of laws itself, it is there and has grown over the years. The wheels of justice could move faster and with the changes in the law, especially with minimum retirement age, things need to go faster.
"This is because claimants, otherwise, get left out from compensation that is due to them if we move slowly. So, I would be looking at ensuring things move appropriately.
"I hope things will move as fast as I want. That would be very dependent on the support staff I have. At the end of the day, it is also the cooperation of members of the Bar and the judiciary," she added.