KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Law Association (SLA), in collaboration with the State Attorney-General’s Chambers, proposed to hold a refresher course in Criminal Procedure Code for District and Assistant District Officers.
SLA president Datuk G.B.B Nandy@Gaanesh yesterday said the course would relate to remand, bail and other related matters for District and Assistant District Officers so that they could discharge their duties as Second Class Magistrates more effectively when hearing those applications.
“Not all districts in Sabah have resident magistrates. Therefore in those districts, District Officers and Assistants act as Second Class Magistrates to hear remand proceedings and bail applications,” said Gaanesh at the opening of Legal Year 2015 for Sabah and Sarawak at the High Court here.
He added that these officers were laymen and were not legally qualified.
Gaanesh also said the Training of Trainers program for Yayasan Bantuan Guaman Kebangsaan (YBGK) had been successfully conducted in Kota Kinabalu and as a result, more lawyers were being trained to participate in the YBGK’s program in Sabah.
“SLA is extremely grateful to Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail cum YBGK chairman for approving SLA’s request to appoint a new staff solely to take charge of YBGK and its operations in Sabah,” he said.
Gaanesh added that in that way SLA would be able to carry out YBGK work in Sabah more effectively.