KUCHING: A new Bill to elevate the Sarawak Native Court to be on par with the Civil and Syariah Courts is expected to be tabled in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) next year.
Deputy Minister in the Sarawak Premier’s Department (Native Law and Customs), Jefferson Jamit Unyat said the Cabinet paper on the transformation of the Sarawak Native Court received approval from the Sarawak Cabinet last month.
“Now that the Sarawak Cabinet has approved the Cabinet Paper on the transformation of the Sarawak Native Court, next is to table the new Bill and for it to be passed.
“However, the proposed Bill cannot be tabled at the forthcoming DUN sitting this November as it is still in the process of fine-tuning.”
Jamit told the media this after officiating the two-day Sarawak Bumiputera Court Case Handling for Community Leaders Seminar here on Tuesday (Oct 3).
He hoped that the proposed Bill would be tabled during the first session of the DUN sitting next year.
“It is unlikely to be tabled in this upcoming DUN sitting in November. Therefore, we target it (the Bill) to be tabled by early next year.”
He added that the Bill has already been drafted and now it is currently undergoing fine-tuning.
Meanwhile, Sarawak Native Court chief registrar Jonathan Lugoh said the draft Bill is currently being fine-tuned by the Sarawak Attorney-General’s (SAG) Office.
“The entire process is nearly complete, but it requires some fine-tuning. Thus, it will be ready for the Sarawak Cabinet’s approval next year, followed by the tabling of the Bill at the DUN sitting next year.”
It was previously reported that the proposed Bill would repeal the current Native Courts Ordinance 1992 and Native Courts Rules 1993 and replace them with a new ordinance.
The implementation of the transformation of the Native Courts would begin after the new Native Courts Ordinance has been passed in the DUN.
Earlier, Jamit said the Sarawak Native Court is currently working to resolve outstanding cases at the level of the Chief’s Superior Court and Chief Court.
“As of Sept 27, a total of 138 cases are still pending at the Chief’s Superior Court and a total of 2,815 cases are still pending at the Chief’s Court.
“However, after the review was carried out at the Registrar’s Office, which is at the District Office, many cases have been resolved but have not been updated in the Native Court System.”
As such, he urged the community leaders to inform the Sarawak Administrative Officer (SAO) or the Court Clerk to update the Native Court System so that the actual data of outstanding cases is updated.
