High legal fees forcing public rethink: Malanjum
Published on: Saturday, January 07, 2017
Sandakan: The increasing number of members of the public not engaging lawyers, both in criminal and civil cases, is one troubling issue confronting the courts in Sabah and Sarawak, according to Chief Justice of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum."I think it is not so much scarcity of lawyers. Rather it is the prohibitive costs when lawyers are involved," he said."The Rule of Law must not only be said, it must be carried out and respected as well. Justice is not the domain of the rich and powerful.
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"So, perhaps legal practitioners need to think about this matter seriously especially towards those who are not well to do but deserve legal assistance. "Some of their matters are in the nature of public interest litigations related to the environment and the right to life or livelihood," he said at the opening of Sabah and Sarawak Legal Year 2017 at the court building here on Friday."It is also timely to caution legal practitioners not to overcharge clients by taking not only the costs awarded by the courts but also a large percentage of the damages awarded resulting in clients getting hardly anything. I understand there have been some instances in the past few years with the natives being the easy preys,' he said."There is much personal satisfaction to gain when justice is done to the downtrodden and defeating human greed of the rich and powerful who might think that degrading the environment and abusing their powers are their prerogatives.
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And that is why we have been persuading lawyers to get involved in the Yayasan Bantuan Guaman Kebangsaan (YBGK) programme. "This year we are going to monitor closely those junior lawyers who gave their undertakings to do at least 20 cases each year under the programme. Failure might lead to serious consequences.
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Malanjum also said that this year the courts in Sabah and Sarawak have a few major programmes to perform. One is the undertaking to plant one million trees in Sabah. "The Sabah courts have taken 300,000 of the one million and Sabah Law Association (SLA) has agreed to take 200,000. We hope more government departments and NGOs will join us in this programme. "We are organising this programme in furtherance of the Green Court launched a few years ago. It could be perceived as hypocritical on the part of the courts if we were only to hear cases involving the environment while not taking any positive steps for the environment." "The commitments shown by all judges, judicial officers and staff of the courts in Sabah and Sarawak in this programme are indeed commendable and appreciated," he said.Malanjum also hoped more courts in Sabah and Sarawak would join the programme of gardening at the court compound."Some may think it is a waste of judicial time. In fact, the officers and staff do the gardening before and after office hours. And while the garden produce may not be much, there is one aspect of the programme that some might have overlooked. "It is the team building spirit, bonding and better understanding among the judges, officers and staff arising from such activity. And such benefits are the fertilisers for their actual office performances."Malanjum also said the mobile court programme will continue this year. "While the number is declining on paperless rural folk in Sabah, we still have to do quite a lot in Sarawak. That is why about two months ago, Tun (Tun Arifin Zakaria) went deep into the Sungai Asap and Bakun Dam area to launch the mobile courtroom in Sarawak. Meanwhile, Malanjum said that overall, the courts in Sabah and Sarawak at all levels performed well in 2016. "Almost all the courts in the two States managed to dispose of their cases within the timelines prescribed. But it does not mean that the Judges, Judicial Commissioners, judicial officers and staff should now rest on their laurels. There is room for improvement," he said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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