KUCHING, May 24: A bill on the new Native Courts Ordinance is expected to be tabled during the next state legislative assembly (DUN) sitting to transform the state’s native courts.
Datuk John Sikie Tayai, the Minister in the Premier’s Department said the proposed new ordinance will nullify the current Native Courts Ordinance 1992 and the Native Courts Rules 1993.
The government, however, requires a comprehensive study first, to comply with its directive in the determining the current relevance of the court.
“The study to transform the Native Courts Sarawak was commissioned by the State Government in January 2020. It was originally planned to be a nine months study.
“Unfortunately, it was not completed as scheduled in October 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Sikie in his winding-up speech during the sixth day of the DUN sitting.
The appointed consultant undertaking the study had submitted the final report of the study in March 2022, in which the outcome and recommendations will soon be presented to the state cabinet for consideration and approval.
“The proposed transformation of the Native Courts Sarawak would commence in earnest only after the new Native Courts Ordinance has been passed,”
“All of this are part of our ongoing efforts to elevate the Native Courts Sarawak into an Independent Judicial System, equivalent to the Syariah and Civil Courts,” Sikie added.
At the same time, Sikie revealed a total of 21 courtrooms have been upgraded which are located in various state districts and sub-districts, in respect of the Native Courtrooms Upgrading under the purview of the Native Courts Sarawak.
The upgrading has been expedited since 2015 with a total cost of RM3.2 million.
“For this year, we have proposed to upgrade three native courtrooms located at Lingga District Office, Daro District Office and Medamit Sub-District Office.
