Sabah, S’wak High Court registries to remain for now: Chief Judge
Published on: Friday, November 29, 2019
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah and Sarawak Chief Judge David Wong Dak Wah said any decision on High Court registries will have to be based on the Federal Constitution.
Wong said it was not his place to comment on a suggestion to have one High Court registry for Sarawak and another for Sabah, apart from the one for Peninsular Malaysia, adding that the Federal Constitution was clear on the matter.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I have no view on this but all I can say is we follow the constitution.
“At present, we have two high courts, and until it is changed by politicians, we have what we have,” he said after presiding over an event to remember departed members of Sabah’s legal profession here.
Sarawak United Peoples’ Party secretary-general Milton Foo had previously proposed the setting up of a High Court in Sarawak, with its own registry.
Calling on Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) MPs to table a motion on this, Foo said there should be a High Court of Sarawak with its own registry to reflect the three states becoming Malaysia.
ADVERTISEMENT
Law practitioners from Sabah holding a one-minute silence to remember their departed members at the Kota Kinabalu Court Complex today.
He described it as absurd that Malaysia only had two high court registries — for Malaya and, for Sabah and Sarawak —when the country had three separate Bars.
ADVERTISEMENT
“After all, we have separate Bars and state attorney-generals and police commissioners. We should have our own Sarawak chief justice and Sabah its own,” he had said.
Article 121(1)(b) of the Federal Constitution and Courts of Judicature Act 1964 should be amended by MPs to establish a separate High Court of Sarawak to reflect the true spirit of Malaysia Agreement 1963, Foo had said.
However, Sabah Law Society (SLS) president Roger Chin is unsure whether having three separate high courts would be such a good idea as there were already problems with having just the present two.
“There is an issue of transferring cases because you can only transfer cases within the High Court of Malaya and all their sub registries underneath, and similarly for Sabah.
“We can only transfer cases in Sabah and Sarawak. So that already creates some problems. Although it’s not insurmountable, it creates some issues. So, I’m wondering whether having three high courts would make it any better or not.”
The question was not about having separate high courts but whether these were functioning well, Chin added.
“Unless it is changed by the will of the people, it will remain that way. Obviously, a constitutional amendment is not easy. Whether there is a need to do so is another issue,” he said.
The Sarawak government had previously agreed that the Sabah and Sarawak High Court registry office be based alternately in Kuching and Kota Kinabalu on a 10-year rotation system.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
