Sabah Law Society providing input on State rights
Published on: Saturday, January 20, 2018
Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah Law Society (SLS) has been part and parcel of the Committee for the Revision of State Rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963, said its President Brenndon Keith Soh.He said the committee chaired by the State Minister of Special Tasks Datuk Teo Chee Kang has contributed to the issues of State Constitutional Revenue Rights and Entitlements and State Boundaries, among others."The findings and recommendations of this committee are for the purposes of presenting the same to the Federal Government for further deliberation with a view to having a substantive effect in recovering the 'State Rights'," said Soh at the opening of the legal year in Miri, Sarawak, Friday.ADVERTISEMENT "As for law reform, the Society is included in the State Steering Committee on subsidiary titles and the formation of management corporations for multi storey developments."In this respect, the amendments to the Land (Subsidiary Title) Enactment 1972 are certainly necessary to not only protect consumers but to ensure that there are remedies and avenues for owners to manage buildings both effectively and harmoniously. Provisions for the creation of a building commissioner are being explored for this purpose."More recently, he said the SLS has been instrumental in assisting Kota Kinabalu City Hall with the drafting of bylaws for short term rentals of property, more popularly known as the AirBnB transactions."The cause for the need to regulate these transactions arises from the categorisation of when such commercial activities are to be permitted vis-a-vis whether the property falls within the definition of a residential or commercial development," he said.ADVERTISEMENT The Society will continue to strive to conduct and organise seminars for the legal community on a regular basis as it has done so last year on a range of topics from the new Companies Act and Intellectual Property to the new Bankruptcy laws in Malaysia, said Soh.He added that the respective Advocates Ordinances' of Sabah and Sarawak recognises multiple avenues for eligibility to be admitted as an advocate.
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"In addition to recognising Malaysian public universities and the Certificate in Legal Practice (CLP) qualification, a pupil may be admitted to the Sabah or Sarawak Bar if he or she has been admitted to a Commonwealth Bar such as New Zealand or Australia without having to sit for the Certificate in Legal Practice. It has come to our attention that the Judicial and Legal Services Commission imposes as one of their criteria that an applicant must either be a graduate from a Malaysian public university or possess the CLP. "Presumably this is to be consistent with the definition of a "qualified person" under the Legal Profession Act 1976. Unfortunately this criteria may deny suitable advocates from both Sabah and Sarawak from being considered for positions within the Judicial and Legal Services."Furthermore, the irony is that advocates from Sabah and Sarawak without graduating from Malaysian public universities of having the CLP are qualified to be appointed to the superior courts as Judges of the High Court and beyond. We would therefore humbly request that this anomaly be reconciled," he said.Soh in referring to a case in 2017, the Keruntum Sdn Bhd against Sarawak State Government review application, the Federal Court had decided that a judge having served in the Borneo States would be sufficient to amount to having Bornean judicial experience but recognised that such requirement as stated in paragraph 26 (4) of the Inter-Governmental Committee Report was not incorporated into either the Malaysia Agreement 1963 or the Federal Constitution and was thus not a constitutional right. "Notwithstanding the decision of the Federal Court, the Society would humbly suggest that where it is feasible, a judge with Bornean judicial experience should be empanelled so as to be of assistance to the appellate court when the nature of the appeal concerns the unique local laws of either Sabah or Sarawak."Soh added the Society renews its pledge to continue the virtuous work with all stakeholders of the legal fraternity. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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"The SLS also like to recognise that late last year we bid farewell to Datuk Douglas Primus Sikayun who retired as a High Court Judge in Kota Kinabalu."Fortunately his astute decision making ability is very much in demand and we welcomed him early this year as the first Chairman of the Sabah Law Society's Disciplinary Board," he said.