Special court proposed for tourists
Published on: Saturday, January 24, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: The time has come for the establishment of a special court for tourists in Sabah and Sarawak due to the big number of tourists coming to both states, some of whom get involved in accidents.Chief Justice of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum said there had been no civil claim filed by any tourist."My take on the absence of civil claim is that we do not have any special court for tourists like in Singapore.
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"Maybe it is time for the legal fraternity in Sabah and Sarawak to make a move in order to create awareness among tourists that their short stay in both states should not inhibit them from taking legal action, if necessary, in our court."We will endeavour that any tourist's claim is speedily resolved so that their return or journey to their hometown is not delayed," Malanjum said, adding that tourism is one of the main sources of revenue for Sabah and Sarawak.According to Malanjum, last year there were four tourist victims in Sabah and two in Sarawak but no claims were filed.He also stated that 34 tourists had been charged for various offences in the Magistrate's Court in Sarawak and four in Sabah.
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Malanjum further said that they would work out the establishment of the court for tourists and formulate the speed of the proceedings as well as the provisions under the court.He was speaking at the opening of the Sabah and Sarawak Legal Year, here, Friday.
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Malanjum, who also responded to Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria's call for protecting the environment, said the judicial officers in Sabah and Sarawak have been working closely with the relevant agencies that deal with the protection of the environment."The establishment of the Green Court is a testament that the Chief Justice is very serious on the issue and that we need to create public awareness on the importance of protecting our environment, including wildlife and marine animals."Sadly, how many of us are listening to his call? Are we still judging any act of destroying our environment as merely a demeanour that warrants only fines or binding-over?"And on environment we must remember that we are only trustees for the next generation and that we must therefore perform our fiduciary duties faithfully," he said.In his speech, Malanjum also raised the state of the land laws especially in Sabah."In 1930 when the Sabah Land Ordinance was enacted to replace the earlier legislation, there was hardly any lawyer, there was abundance of land and presumably hardly any conman lurking around."Today it is entirely a different story. Yet in the SLO there is no clear provision on indefeasibility of title, extensive powers given to the Land Collector and hazy reference to the concepts of adverse possession and easement to mention a few."He said another legislation that may require review is the Land Acquisition Ordinance."How far can the term 'public purpose' be utilised? Is the present formula given on the valuation of acquired land fair?"Should not the market price valuation be used? These are some of the issues that the Sabah Law Association may wish to look at this year."Meanwhile, SLA President Datuk Ganesh Nandy, in his speech, among others, said SLA has finalised and submitted the draft amendments to the Advocates Ordinance to the Federal Attorney General's Chambers for further action."The proposed amendments to the Advocates Ordinance, among others, provide for establishing a statutory body to regulate the affairs of the Sabah Bar."Besides that, the proposed amendments would also allow for a disciplinary board to be established with powers to hear complaints regarding advocates and to take appropriate action to deal with the misconduct of the advocates, if proven," he said.Ganesh said the proposed amendments also contained provisions for liberalisation of legal services to allow foreign lawyers to do limited legal work in Sabah in line with the requirements of the World Trade Organisation.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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