KOTA KINABALU: Native Court members such as district chief, native chief and village chief should be permanent observers in any Land Utilisation Committee (LUC) meetings if the government is serious about protecting the Native Customary Rights (NCR) lands.
Ranau district chief OKK Mohd Din Solinggong said the current LUC meeting at the district level does not require Native Court members to be present.
“There are so many stories that the government is sidelining NCR land claims and discriminates against land ownership for natives. If the case is brought up to the court, Native Court members will be important witnesses because people like the native chiefs and ketua kampungs are the people who know the location of the land and recognize the face of the land applicants.
“If a native chief or ketua kampung is not asked to sit in as observers in the LUC meeting, a lot of issues will arise in the future, especially when outsiders are starting to own their NCR lands,” he said at the first day of UMS Symposium of Sabah Native Customary Rights yesterday.
He also suggested that proper documentation on NCR issues should be published so that more people, especially the younger generation of natives in Sabah, will know their rights.
Matunggong native chief Elin Masalin even suggested for NCR to be included as a study subject in higher learning institutions, not only to ensure more natives are aware of their rights but also to empower the Native Court system.
“We have been calling on the relevant authority to help us to ensure the Native Court institution is on par with the other judiciary institutions like the Syariah and Civil Courts, but unfortunately there are many challenges on this. The Native Courts became dependent from time to time. We do not have court clerks or even our own official vehicles to enforce the law. We have to borrow from the District Office,” she added.
Other speakers who were also invited to speak at the second session of yesterday’s discussion were Lahad Datu district chief OKK Sulaiman Atok, Kota Belud district chief OKK Masrin Hashim, Matunggong native chief Elin Masalin, Kota Kinabalu Native Court clerk Justin Giduk and Native Chief representative of Penampang, Pius Kunsung.
The session was moderated by Sabah Native Affairs Office (Pahaens) head Azmi Salim and chaired by Professor Hasan Mat Nor from Institute of Ethnic Studies, UKM.
During the first session, former State Attorney General Tan Sri Dr Herman Luping chaired the discussion which was entitled ‘Native Law and Native Court System in Sabah’.
Legal officer of the Sabah Attorney-General’s Chambers, Jupirin Wong-Adamal, presented his working paper on The Structure of the Native Court in Sabah, while Professor of Anthropology from Chuo University of Japan, Masaru Miyamoto, shared his findings on Indigenous Native Law and Native Court in Sabah: A Case Study of the Penampang Kadazan.
The third paper at the first session, Contempt of Court in the Native Court, was presented by chairman of Pusat Sumber Adat dan Mediasi Kaum Anak Negeri (Pusaka, Sabah), Martin Idang.
The first session was moderated by the Kadazandusun Chair of UMS, Professor Dr Jacqueline Pugh-Kitingan.