Court of Appeal should have permanent panel of judges for Sabah and Sarawak, says senior lawyer

KUCHING: The Court of Appeal should have a permanent panel of judges based in Sabah and Sarawak to speed up the hearing of appeal cases originating in both states, says a senior Sarawakian lawyer.

Tan Kee Heng said at present there was only a sub-registry of the Court of Appeal and Federal Court in Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, which was set up in 2007 to facilitate the filing and service of documents.

As of January last year, he said, 6,300 appeals were pending to be disposed in the Court of Appeal.

“A big majority of the appeals originated from peninsular Malaysia, and this has affected the speed of the disposal of the appeals originating from Sabah and Sarawak as there is no permanent panel of the Court of Appeal allocated to hear appeals from both states.

“Certainly these appeals from the Borneo states would be disposed of at a faster pace, possibly within 12 to 18 months, if a permanent panel is stationed here,” he said.

Tan, who spoke at the launch of the fourth edition of his book “Civil and Criminal Appeals in Malaysia” here on Friday (March 8), added that having a permanent Court of Appeal panel would help to save costs for the parties involved from Sabah and Sarawak.

He also noted that there were currently three Sarawakians in the Federal Court, comprising Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Sebli and Federal Court judge Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang.

“(With Sarawakians) Datuk Abdul Razak Tready in the Judicial Appointment Commission and Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof as Deputy Prime Minister, I believe it is not impossible if all the stakeholders could work together for a permanent panel of the Court of Appeal to be based in Sabah and Sarawak since we are equal partners in the formation of Malaysia,” Tan said.

Meanwhile, Abdul Rahman said Tan’s book was an indispensable resource for the legal fraternity, scholars and students.

The Chief Judge, who launched the book, said Tan not only distilled legal concepts but provided insights useful for lawyers handling appellate cases.

‘May the book inspire legal practitioners to pursue excellence in their endeavours and to uphold the principles of justice, integrity and fairness that lie at the heart of the law,” he added.