MIRI (Jan 19): The Advocates Association of Sarawak (AAS) has commended the federal government for speedily addressing its request for more judges to be appointed for Sarawak and Sabah due to the increasing number of cases handled.
AAS president Gurvir Singh Sandhu said the association raised its concern on this issue, among others, when paying a courtesy call on Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) Ramkarpal Singh during the recent Opening of the Legal Year 2023 here.
“Rule of law requires that the citizen is given access to justice, which includes access to judges as and when required, and in a timeous manner,” he said in a statement.
He said the move will enable judges to concentrate on their individual postings and cases, as opposed to circuit sitting to cover other larger courts which have more cases.
“One can imagine that due to developing transportation services in Sarawak, commuting between courts can be physically taxing for judges – where an example of this situation is the High Court Judge in Bintulu frequently commuting to Miri via road to hear cases as the Miri High Court has many more cases when compared to the other courts,” Gurvir said.
He added AAS looks forward to further positive steps being taken by the Cabinet in attending to the issues raised as well as for the association to continue to be consulted on the impending appointments of new judicial commissioners.
“We look forward for this practice to be continued as it is an invaluable avenue for the Advocates Association of Sarawak to convey its views on impending appointments,” he said.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that priority will be accorded to the appointment of more judges for Sabah and Sarawak.
Anwar told a press conference that both Borneo states need more judges due to the increasing number of cases that the courts have to handle.
He also said Putrajaya would also address the issue of the rundown condition of Sarawak and Sabah’s court premises.
https://www.theborneopost.com/2023/01/19/aas-applauds-putrajayas-willingness-to-appoint-more-judges-for-sarawak-sabah/
