KUCHING: It would appear that the federal government has been resorting to any means to infringe upon Sarawak’s rights, said lawyer Soo Li Ching.
Soo, a member of the Advocates Association of Sarawak, said the emergence of what looks like a draft of the Legal Profession Bill 2019 is another of such an attempt.
“If this is really the draft that is going to be passed in the next Parliamentary sitting, I can see that the federal government is attempting to take away yet another right of Sarawak,” she told pressmen yesterday.
Soo, who is a practising lawyer, said the Bill which seems to seek to standardise the law governing the legal profession, if passed, would have the effect of further degrading Sarawak into just one of thirteen states.
As of now one important feature that distinguishes Sarawak’s unique position in the Federation of Malaysia which Sarawakians, including the Sarawak legal fraternities, must uphold is the existence of the Advocates Association of Sarawak and High Court of Sabah and Sarawak viz a viz the High Court of Malaya.
“Having a court system and a legal profession body dedicated to Sarawak will set the state aside from the 11 states in Malaya,” she said.
“Since the federal government has been saying that we are equal partners, Sarawak should have every right to the status quo, which is having two court systems which is High Court of Malaya and High Court of Sabah and Sarawak, and most importantly, our own Advocates Association of Sarawak to be the body for this legal profession in the state.
“If the Advocates Association of Sarawak is abolished (as the Bill suggests), we will further allow ourselves to be controlled by Malaya,” she said.
She said the abolishment of the Advocates Association of Sarawak will turn the legal field into an open market.
“The legal practitioners from Malaya will have no hurdle coming and practising in Sarawak. If this happens Sarawakians will gradually lose out to Malayans.
“And a lot of cases here involving the local Adat (traditional law) of the natives, including Native Customary Rights (NCR) cases, I believe are best handled by Sarawakian lawyers,” she pointed out.
Soo called on Sarawakians to stand together against further systematic attempts to take the rights of Sarawak by the federal government.
“They (federal government) have tried too hard in recent weeks. First was the failed Amendment Bill of the Article 1 (2) of the Federal Constitution; second was the failed attempt to relocate the Registry of the High Court from Kuching to Kota Kinabalu. And now this,” she said.
Soo urged Sarawakians to stay sharp and always be wary of more plotting by the PH government to erode their rights.
“I will study this draft to see if there are any other issues that could hurt us,” she assured.
