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Author: Dr Te Whetu O Rongo

Te whetu Orongo

Troublemakers, kingmakers and rainmakers

Faithless is he who says farewell when the road darkens. – J R R Tolkien, English writer, poet, and creator of the “Lord of the Rings’ The recent Monday night putsch, at the time of writing, which occasioned the resignation of the Malaysian prime minister also saw the exodus of

Te whetu Orongo

Duel citizenship

Education in the understanding of citizenship is a short-term affair if we are honest and earnest. – MAHATMA GANDHI, INDIAN LAWYER AND FREEDOM FIGHTER Much discussion and debate abound these days concerning qualifications for election to the Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN). Talking points should start with Article 16 of the

Te whetu Orongo

Constitutional therapy

We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible because we are final. – ASSOCIATE JUSTICE ROBERT H. JACKSON (1941-1954), UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT  With unsurpassed judicial finality, a great victory was thrust and visited upon the sovereignty of Sarawak recently when the Federal Court upheld, established

Statutory stutter

Law is reason free of passion. – Aristotle, Greek philosopher It is apparent that the Malaysian judicial system is passionate about the rule by law as pronounced, commandeered and commanded by the ever-encroaching executive. The doctrine of the separation of powers, which supposedly is a check and balance between the

Constitutional amnesia

I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is

Assaulting the constitution

The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalised version of the first. Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States Like an airplane with faulty and defective

Customary land rights

When the blood in your veins returns to the sea, and the earth in your bones returns to the ground, perhaps then you will remember that this land does not belong to you, it is you who belong to this land. Apache, Native American saying For centuries, it has been

Traumatising the Constitution

The glory of justice and the majesty of law are created not just by the Constitution – nor by the courts – nor by the officers of the law – nor by the lawyers – but by the men and women who constitute our society – who are the protectors

Liberty and native land

There can be no peace without justice, no justice without law and no meaningful law without a Court to decide what is just and lawful under any given circumstance. BENJAMIN B. FERENCZ, AMERICAN LAWYER AND CHIEF PROSECUTOR IN ONE OF THE 12 TRIALS AT THE NUREMBERG WAR TRIBUNAL Every legal

Judicature perfected

Tribal courts are the primary tribal institutions charged with carrying the flame of sovereignty and self-government.  PROFESSOR FRANK POMMERSHEIM, AMERICAN PROFESSOR, AUTHOR, AND POET SPECIALISING IN THE FIELD OF AMERICAN INDIAN LAW Sarawak’s Constitutional Native Court system is granted a firm mandate in the Federal Constitution (FC) at Article 145(3)