Screen grab shows Sikie delivering his ministerial winding-up speech in the DUN chamber.
THE government through the State Development Office has thus far upgraded or renovated 21 Native Courtrooms in various districts and sub-districts throughout the state.
Minister in the Sarawak Premier’s Department Datuk John Sikie Tayai said the upgrading programme started in 2015 under the Program Khas Bumiputera Sabah dan Sarawak and up to the end of 2022, an allocation of over RM3.2 million had been spent on the upgrading works.
“Funds for the courtrooms renovation and upgrading are provided by the federal government through the State Development Office.
“For this year, two more courtrooms have been approved under the upgrading programme, namely at Belaga District Office and Matu District Office. The State Development Office is the implementing agency for these two projects,” he said in his ministerial winding-up speech.
Sikie disclosed that the Office of the Chief Registrar is now in the process of conducting a survey to determine the needs and financial requirement to upgrade, standardise and equip all the other courts throughout the state.
“The ultimate objective is to equip all the courtrooms in the state to meet the required standard in terms of layout, furniture and fittings and ICT facilities,” he explained.
According to Sikie, the manpower strength of the Chief Registrar Office has been greatly enhanced since the beginning of this year with the recruitment of six N41, two N48 and one N54 administrative officers.
“The total number of administrative staff in the professional and managerial category has increased significantly from four in Dec, 2022 to 13 by the end of April this year. In this regard, I wish to thank the state government for the much-needed recruitment of the additional officers.
“The Chief Registrar Office and for that matter the Native Courts as a unit in the Premier’s Department had and will continue to do their best in providing excellent service to all stakeholders judiciously and expeditiously. This is in pursuance of the Native Courts Sarawak motto of ‘fair and just’ in the dispensation of justice to the native population,” said Sikie.
He also disclosed that currently, there are 7,047 Presiding Officers at the community level courts, consisting of 6,497 Ketua Kaum or Headman, 455 Penghulus, 65 Pemancas and 30 Temenggongs who are the Presiding Officers of the Headman, Chief’s Courts and Superior Chief’s Courts in the whole state.
“In addition to the headmen and community leaders, the Native Courts have one Judge who is the President of the Native Court of Appeal, 57 Ex-Officio Magistrates comprising 12 Residents and 45 District Officers and 17 Contract Magistrates.
“The 17 contract magistrates include three for the Resident’s Native Courts and 14 for the District Native Courts. These 17 contract magistrates are directly under the Chief Registrar of the Native Court and they are assigned as circuit magistrates throughout Sarawak.
“The 14 contract magistrates for the District Native Courts are mostly former district officers. Four of the 14 are legally qualified and are members of the Roll of Advocates of the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.
In an effort to enhance the skills and competency of the presiding officers, particularly the ex-officio magistrates, in handling their court cases, the Office of the Chief Registrar has been organising a series of Capacity Building Programmes involving training, workshops, seminars, and briefings to Native Courts presiding officers since 2014.
The Capacity Building Programme also involves the ex-officio magistrates and officials handling Native Courts matters at the Resident’s and District Office.
For this year, three more Capacity Building Programmes would be carried out on a regional basis; namely for the southern, central and northern regions.
The target group will be the district officers and administrative officers at the districts and sub-districts as these are the principal officers who should carry out the functions of the District Native Courts.
“This is consistent with the focus of the Office of the Chief Registrar to settle the outstanding cases expeditiously through the district officers who are ex-officio magistrates.
“Two of the three programmes planned for the year for the northern and southern regions had been implemented to-date and the third programme for the central region divisions has been planned for July this year.
“With respect to the headmen and community leaders who are the presiding officers of the Headman Court, Chief’s Court and Chief’s Superior Courts dealing mainly on breaches of the adat, the Capacity Building Programme would focus on the newly appointed headmen and community leaders.
“This is to equip them with the awareness, knowledge, and competency to perform their judicial tasks based on the provisions of the Native Courts Ordinance,” he added.