KUCHING: A tribunal or a dedicated court on Native Customary Rights (NCR) land has been proposed to expedite the disposal of such cases in Sabah and Sarawak.
Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, Richard Malanjum yesterday said the idea to form such a court came following the increase in the number of NCR claims recorded in the two states over the last couple of years.
“The toughest challenge is on the disposal of NCR claims.
Each year, the figure keeps on increasing,” he said when speaking at the launch of the Sabah and Sarawak Legal Year by the Chief Justice of Malaysia Tun Arifin Zakaria, here.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri and Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail were among those present at the launch.
Richard said inputs from members of the Malaysian Bar Council and other interested stakeholders were also needed in setting up the proposed court.
He said more talks would also be organised by those familiar with native customs or adat related to land in order to give the legal fraternity a better understanding of NCR.
“There is no point having this fast-track facility (NCR land court) when there are only a few lawyers handling NCR cases. This problem must be addressed as well,” he said.
On the performance of the courts in the two states, he said the Subordinate Courts were almost on target to meet the timelines of 12 months for civil cases and six months for criminal cases in the Sessions Courts, while the timelines were six months for civil cases and three months for criminal cases in Magistrates’ Courts.
“The High Courts are still struggling to meet the timelines as given to the Sessions Courts. With the addition of two newly appointed Judicial Commissioners, I am confident that the High Courts will be able to perform as well as the Subordinate Courts,” he added.
-Bernama
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