In addition to upholding the conventions and traditions of our profession, this event also allows us to continue to co-operate with each other and to assist each other in the administration of justice. And of course, not the very least, to offer our felicitations and good wishes to one another for the new legal year.
In doing so, it is also for us to reflect on our deeds during the past year, to take stock and to reflect deeply on what have been done and to identify areas where we can do more to enhance and to improve the administration of justice and its due process.
While certain positive achievements and progress have been successfully seen in 2010, there is no denying that certain areas of access to justice still remain a great and impending concern to all of us. There is therefore a need to continuously seek to ensure that the rule of law is upheld and that everyone has equal access to justice.
My Lords, My Ladies,Before I address you on the main issues, indeed it is not out of place for me at this august occasion to offer the Bar’s congratulation to YA Datuk Douglas C. Primus Sikayun, a senior member of the Sabah Bar on his appointment as a Judicial Commissioner of the High Court of Sabah & Sarawak.
SLA lauds the elevation of one of its members to the judicial office. It is with great sense of pride and honour that we extend our profound gratitude to our Chief Judge for his confidence shown to another of our distinguished senior member of the Bar. It is a well known fact that Your Lordship always has the welfare of the local Bars at heart and the recent appointment of yet another practitioner to the judiciary is a clear testament to this. We wish our new YA a happy and successful tenure on the Bench and look forward to his learned judgments in future.
COMPUTERIZATION OF THE COURTOnce again, we commend the Chief Judge for his initiative and tireless efforts to improve and enhance the court delivery system. The changes brought about by your Lordship have been welcomed by the legal fraternity. Most notable are the computerization of the courts such as e-filing and registration, document check list, court tracking system, court recording and transcription, video conferencing, kiosks and LCD display,
the court management system (CMS) and the mandated mediation, all of which were designed to increase the efficiency of the courts and render forth benefit and convenience to the legal practitioners and the public.
We welcome and are very supportive of the good intention of the judiciary and its reforms made and we believe that such reforms have and will significantly contribute to the enhancement of the administration of justice in Sabah. However, we are also aware that the implementation process is not without its shortcomings and drawbacks.
For instance, some drawbacks of the system have been identified by practitioners and to name a few:
- Requests for feedback on wrongly recorded cases, in particular errors made in respect of the parties’ names and dates, have been directed to the judge instead of the relevant registrar handling the relevant/respective cases.
- Accessibility via e-filing is limited in that the e-filing tab does not display pre-registered cases and scanned documents such as writs and originating summons.
- Written judgments are not available in the CMS and searches done vie the Sabah Law Courts website can be quite cumbersome at times.
Nevertheless, perhaps members of the legal profession are also partly responsible in the slow and lukewarm response towards the utilization and in making full use of the system, possibly and largely due to the fact that manual filing is still the commonly accessible and preferred method. We hope that in the near future, when the law is amended to give way to compulsory utilization of the computerized system, the members of the legal profession will show their full support and fully comply with the changes and move with the time.
It is therefore important that the members of the legal profession fully equip themselves with self-awareness in respect of such reforms and endeavour to enhance themselves with the relevant IT knowledge (
such as using smart phone, I-pad and the latest IT gadgets). The Chief Judge’s intentions to have a fully automated and computerized court system which is at par with other advanced countries will only come to be realized if all sectors give their fullest co-operation.
Shortcomings of the CourtIt is without doubt that under the leadership of YAA, we have ventured forward and are gearing towards better quality dispute resolution and speedier disposal of justice. It is however, evident and undeniable that there are still some unresolved problems, particularly faced by advocates in court, which we are certain that YAA will address in the near future.
Some of the problems, as highlighted by some our fellow lawyers, can be summed up as follows:
(with respect…..)- Some judges are reluctant to give reasons and grounds for their decisions unless the case is being appealed upon
- The Appellate Courts do not wait for grounds of decisions before hearing an appeal, thereby impeding the development of case law
- Some judges are not strongly equipped in the law of civil procedure and evidence
- Some judges do not hear interlocutory hearings and push for trials
- Some courts adjourn cases at the very last minute without prior notice
- Scheduled trial dates are not followed due to judges having to attend official meetings
- Cost awarded by Appellate Courts are arbitrary
- High Courts are not willing to exercise their powers to allow appeal from the subordinate courts so as not to disturb their decisions
- The bringing forward of cases already fixed for hearing on short notice, thereby causing clashes with dates already fixed at other courts
- Courts are not willing to vacate or give way to another court even if the other court is of superior standing
- Some courts still fix cases for trial on Saturdays
- Cases should not be fixed for hearings and trials during court vacation as is observed by the Appellate Courts.
Lawyers and judges need holidays too… otherwise there will be no fit lawyers around!
[as the saying goes: “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy”.]
- Stenographers are not sufficiently competent in dictation skills in certain courts and need training
New Court Building at Kota KinabaluMeanwhile, as the number of litigants and the volume of cases before the courts increase, the situation of the Kota Kinabalu Courts is becoming critical. More personnel and space are required to meet the workload and the present building will soon be inadequate to cater for the rising needs of the courts as more courtrooms, detention rooms, libraries and resource rooms, parking spaces and not forgetting security. Once again we call upon the Government to look into the present lamentable state of affairs of the court house so that a new modern court complex can be built as soon as possible.
Activities/Reforms/Changes undertaken by SLAMy Lords, My Ladies,SLA has long endeavoured to provide for better fellowship and goodwill amongst legal practitioners and law officers who all are all involved in a shared mission to enhance the legal profession. Year 2010 was no different in a sense that it has witnessed several significant changes and improvements, all of which we implemented for the better good and benefit of our members.
Advocate’s Remuneration (Amendment) Rules 2010As we advance further into the year 2011, we shall draw on the wisdom gained through our experiences from the past years. The experiences, for which I speak, is a long and meaningful one for the profession. For decades there were comments from the general public that the legal profession would decline which means that the traditional way of how the legal profession behave and function is under close scrutiny by the general public. Yet from year to year the legal profession has instead expanded because the fundamentals of the legal profession are strong. Hence, the need to maintain and enhance the dignity of the legal profession.
The most notable improvement would be the implementation of the Advocates’ Remuneration (Amendments) Rules 2010, which came into effect on 1st October 2010 simultaneously with the: -
(a) Advocates’ Account (Amendment) Rules 2010;
(b) Advocates’ (Inquiry Committee) (Amendment) Rules 2010; and
(c) Advocates’ (Practice and Etiquette) (Amendment) Rules 2010
amending the previous Advocates’ Remunerations Rules 1988 which have guided advocates in the charging of fees in the past 22 years. With the new rules in effect, advocates are not to give any discount to their clients for fees charged in respect of services provided.
Our profound gratitude and indebtedness goes to the Chief Judge and the State Attorney General of Sabah.
Any advocate who infringes the new/amended rules will risk the consequence of being struck of the Roll of Advocates or being disbarred under Section 12(k) of the Advocates Ordinance (Sabah Cap. 2).
The implementation of such rules is long overdue as it will be a stepping stone in elevating and reinforcing the public image and professional integrity of the profession. Strict adherence of the rules will also ensure protection of interest of our clients and provision of high quality professional service.
SLA websiteIn order reach out to the public and its members, SLA has improved and enhanced its website www.sabahbar.org.my and has successfully launched a paralegal course, jointly organized with University Malaysia Sabah. The course is designed to provide support staff who work in legal environment an opportunity to acquire basic knowledge and practice of the law. It is hoped that in time to come, there will be a pool of well trained paralegals to support lawyers in their work, be it in litigation or conveyancing matters. This is one way for SLA to promote a higher standard of practice in the law.
Another milestone in the SLA calendar for 2010 was the admission of 15 members of the Bar to practice before the Native Court of Appeal on 7 July 2010. This goes on record as the pioneering batch of advocates accredited to the Native Court of Appeal. Once again our gratitude and appreciation to Tan Sri for making this happen.
On a similar subject of native interest, the SLA published the Sabah Native Court of Appeal law report spanning the period from 1989 to 2009. The report was officially launched by the TYT on the 8th July 2010.
Currently, the SLA is also working on District Native Law report to be launched in March 2011.
For the benefit of all my learned friends present here this morning, I am happy to announce that in the coming months of 2011, SLA will be looking into forming a reform committee to oversee matters entailing:- Advocates, Pupilage and Admission Rules, Website Rules, the Inquiry Committee Rules and the Name of Law Firm Rules.
Discipline of MembersWhen I last had the privilege of addressing your Lordship on occasion such as this in 2010, I had pledged to remind members to strive and to keep on striving to achieve and maintain the highest standards of professional conduct. I renew that pledge and call to all members to do so again and in doing so add that not one of us has the slightest doubt how important this is for the survival of the profession! We are big enough body now to be entrusted with the disciplining of our members which if given the opportunity, we will undertake without fear or favour.
It is only by a rigid enforcement of the high standard of professional conduct laid down by the profession itself that will justify public confidence.
Our profession provides an essential public service to our community and as an honourable profession we owe it to ourselves to practice it all times honourably and with absolute integrity and we owe it to the community we serve to practice it with diligence and competence. I have hope that the future will be a bright one for the profession here for majority are relatively young and the idealism, the pride and vigour of youth, if applied in the practice of our profession, will bring both honour and success.
Competition for places in the legal profession has never been fiercer and it is my fervent belief and hope that the quality of practice of its members, too, should continue to be ferociously high. To the new members of the Bar who are participating in the Opening of the Legal Year for the first time, mark this year as the first step in the long journey of your legal career and may you be the beacon of justice for the public to place its confidence in. I hope that you will always remember the traditions of the legal profession. The legal profession is an independent profession. It is independent of control by the executive, for only the independent judiciary can admit you or disbar you. As members of an independent profession you will not want to abuse your position and your influence. You have a duty not only to your client but also to the courts so that together we – you lawyers and judges together – can administer justice without fear or favour and in a manner that secures public confidence and public respect.
ConclusionAnd my Lords, my Ladies on this auspicious occasion of the Opening of the Legal Year 2011. On behalf of the members of the Bar and myself, we renew and make our annual pledge to your Lordships that we on our part will seek to maintain and enhance the integrity of our legal profession, the administration of justice in our state and indeed in the Nation and to keep our standards of conduct to be the highest possible.
May I offer my very best wishes for a Happy, Peaceful and exciting 2011 to your Lordships, my Ladies and to all Judicial Officers, to the learned State A.G.’s and his Law Officers, members of the Federal A.G Chambers, Federal Deputy Minister, YB Datuk V.K Liew, The President of Municipal Council Sandakan, fellow members of the Bar and to all distinguished Ladies and Gentlement and guest present here this morning.
Thank you.
Datuk John Sikayun, JPPresidentSabah Law Association
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