SLA should appeal – Maijol

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KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Law Association should appeal against the decision of the federal court to allow foreign lawyers in arbitration cases in Sabah, Senator Datuk Maijol Mahap said.

The Sabahan lawyer also suggested that Chief Justice of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum should sit on the panel to decide on the important issue.

The former UPKO vice president said this in response to the Court of Appeals’ decision two days ago allowing foreign lawyers to represent clients in arbitration cases in Sabah.

Maijol who is now deputy chairman and Legal Advisor to Angkatan Perubahan Sabah was of the opinion that allowing lawyers to practise in Sabah even for arbitration cases is breaching the spirit of the existing laws that govern the law profession in Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia.

The existing laws are Sabah Advocates Ordinance, Sarawak Advocates Ordinance and Legal Profession Act for Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia respectively.

“These laws say that lawyers can only practise in their own state unless they are given ad hoc admission to handle a particular case. Even though these laws apply to civil and criminal court only and not arbitration cases, the spirit of the laws also prohibits arbitration cases also.

“The rationale here is that no lawyer from the peninsula can litigate any case in Sabah, and arbitration cases albeit done in different proceeding from the normal civil court, is also a form of litigation. So lawyers from Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak should also be barred from doing arbitration cases in Sabah.

“We are talking about legal and moral rights here. Over the years, we saw many local laws being eroded by decision of other jurisdiction. For example, our Native Court used to have right to imprison offenders but in the 1980’s it was outlawed by the other higher jurisdiction and eventually by an Act of Parliament,” he said.