Experts call for dedicated Malaysian court to handle surging numbers of road accident cases

PETALING JAYA – With a few thousand fatal road accidents taking place in Malaysia each year, legal experts weigh in on the need for a special court to hear road accident cases.

Senior lawyer Kitson Foong said the challenge with road accident cases is not the complexity but the sheer volume.

He proposed that a dedicated fast-track mechanism, in the form of a tribunal or a specialised division with procedures built around the actual nature of road accident disputes, be set up.

“Hundreds of thousands of accidents every year, each one potentially spawning a criminal charge and a civil claim. The courts were never built to absorb that without breaking. The problem is not that our judges cannot handle these cases. They can. The problem is too many cases fighting for too few hearing slots,” he said.

“When a breadwinner is killed on the road, the family does not have the luxury of waiting three to five weeks for a court date. Medical bills do not pause for cause lists. Children’s school fees, for example, do not take adjournments. A system that makes people wait that long is not just slow, it’s failing them,” he said.

“Secondly, it is about accountability. When cases drag on, the deterrent message to reckless drivers is diluted. Swift consequences matter.”

Universiti Putra Malaysia’s Road Safety Research Centre head, Associate Professor Law Teik Hua, agreed that prompt punishment could be more effective than severe penalties.

Chief Justice Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh said in January that case registrations had risen 63.37 per cent – from 1,522,005 cases in 2021 to 2,486,567 cases in November 2025.

Civil case registrations rose from 303,335 cases to 483,933 cases in the same period, a 59.54 per cent increase.

Citing these numbers, Mr Foong said road accidents form a significant part of that burden.

“Handle them efficiently in their own lane and you benefit every other litigant in the system too.

“Every road accident file sitting in a queue is a family in limbo. This is not a luxury reform. It is a basic obligation,” he said.

These cases are usually heard at the Sessions and Magistrates’ courts.

Mr Foong said there are systems abroad that Malaysia can emulate, such as India’s Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Singapore’s dedicated Traffic Court and Britain’s Official Injury Claim portal.

“We need not wait for new legislation.

“The (Chief Justice) has administrative powers to designate dedicated Sessions Court dockets for road accident cases. That could happen now, if the will is there,” he said.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Bar president Anand Raj, when contacted, said that the current laws are enough to cover road accident cases.

“The law presently is comprehensive and exhaustive enough to cover all civil claims and criminal proceedings in relation to road traffic accidents,” he said.

Former Bar Council chairman Salim Bashir Bhaskaran said the judicial system and the public at large might receive tremendous benefits from a specialised court in terms of expertise, increased efficiency, and ensuring knowledgeable adjudicators.

Alliance for a Safe Community chairman Lee Lam Thye added that specialised courts would allow judges to develop expertise in handling technical evidence, including accident reconstruction, medical reports and vehicle forensics.

However, Mr Salim said these cannot be created solely as a knee-jerk reaction, whenever there is a strong outcry or a surge in crimes such as road accidents.

“We must acknowledge that with positive moves towards specialisations, there are some adverse consequences to be considered. A specialist adjudicator risks developing some consistent views with one school of thought, while generalist arbiters may not be so immersed and thus will be more likely to stay above the fray,” he said.

He said another disadvantage is that specialised courts are usually located in state capitals, and the geography could be a challenge.

Mr Salim said the law must also be amended to include a holistic approach and sentencing that includes treatments and rehabilitation of the offenders.

Prof Law stressed that specialised courts are “only one part of the system”. “Enforcement, education and responsible behaviour remain equally important,” he said. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK