THE master plan on the restructuring and elevation of the Native Courts of Sarawak to be an independent judicial system on par with the Syariah and Civil Courts will be submitted to the State Cabinet for approval.
Minister in the Premier’s Department Datuk John Sikie Tayai said the matter is in the process of tabling for approval and implementation.
“During the last sitting in November, I had highlighted the progress of the study to restructure and elevate the status of the Native Courts which was commissioned by the state government in 2020 and the study was completed in February last year.
“The final report containing the Master Plan for the Transformation of the Native Courts had been approved by the Study Steering Committee chaired by Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas on September 2022,” he said.
He said this when delivering his ministerial winding-up speech at DUN on today (May 22).
On the performance of Native Courts, he said out of 17,003 registered cases, 10,583 cases or 63 per cent have been settled as of April 30.
“This is an achievement of 720 additional cases within the last one year and the settlement of the cases at the District and Resident Native Courts was mainly through the circuit contract magistrates,” he said.
He said every effort is being made to settle the remaining 6,420 outstanding cases particularly before the District and Resident Native Courts.
“The cases which were registered before 2014 and cases involving land compensation are given priority,” he said.
On land compensation cases, Sikie said since January 2019, the Chief Registrar of the Native Courts had been assigned by the state government to be the Controlling Officer of the Native Courts Trust Account, where where land compensation involving Native Customary Rights and which are under dispute are deposited pending the settlement of the disputes through the Native Courts.
“Previously the Trust Account was under the State Accountant General and the transfer of responsibility in the management of the Native Courts Trust Account from the State Accountant General to the Chief Registrar of the Native Courts in 2019 involved a sum of RM12,236,242.07 in compensation. This amount involves 226 outstanding cases.
“By April 30, a total of 40 of these cases involving RM3,016,865.80 in compensation had been settled while 186 cases involving RM8,519,286.04 are outstanding,” he said.
He added land compensation cases are given priority by the Native Courts over other cases to ensure that development projects approved by the state government are not held up because of disputes over land compensation.
