PKR S’wak leader wants reform of Native Court immediately

MIRI (May 11): The chairman of PKR State Leadership Council (MPN) Roland Engan said the Sarawak government should prioritise the reform of the Native Court immediately.

According to him, cases involving land disputes are on the rise at the Native Court in Sarawak and lawyers should not be blamed if the court lacks judges to hear and decide on cases.

In view of this, he said the Sarawak government should prioritise the reform of the Native Court immediately in respect of additional judges and officials, and the improvement of the rules of the court.

“Delayed justice is the same as the absence of justice,” he stressed in his statement yesterday.

He was commenting on the answer by Deputy Minister in the Premier’s Department (Bumiputera Laws and Customs) Datuk Jefferson Jamit Unyat at the State Legislative Assembly on Thursday that there is no time limit set by the Native Court in resolving Native Customary Rights (NCR) land disputes in the state.

According to Jamit, normally and based on the procedures in the Native Courts Rules 1993, a case will take more than six months to resolve and this includes appeal cases.

“After reading the report about the answer given by the Deputy Minister in the Sarawak Premier’s Department (Bumiputera Law and Customs) in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly yesterday, the reform of the Native Court should be expedited,” Roland pointed out.

As the Sarawak government had appointed a consultant to make a study and proposal to upgrade the Native Court in Sarawak, he said the next step should involve all stakeholders to examine the results of the study and the recommendations for the purpose of improvement, if any.

Another aspect of the reform of the court, he added, is to return the authority to hear customary land disputes among fellow customary landowners to community leaders.

In addition, Roland suggested that there be a Special Academy for training related to native customs, especially for community leaders and village heads (KMKK), as well as set up a Sarawak Native Customs Commission, KMKK Appointment Commission and a Special Judicial Commission for the Native Court in Sarawak.

He also wants a special allowance for KMKK who act as Judges and Assessors in Native Courts and to establish the Native Court Legal Aid Foundation to help parties who need financial assistance to bring their cases to Native Courts.

“Establish a special academy to recognise customary knowledge experts and document customary knowledge among Sarawak Bumiputera, in collaboration with the existing Sarawak Biodiversity Centre,” he added.

Roland also wants the customs of all Sarawak Bumiputera ethnic groups to be recorded immediately and the customs that have been recorded must be improved in line with the development of the modern world.