SARAWAK until today has yet to be presented with the proposed “administrative arrangement” that will return power to the the governor to appoint the state’s judicial commissioners, state Attorney-General Talat Mahmood Abdul Rashid said.

Speaking to reporters at the launch of the hydrogen bus service in Kuching this afternoon, Talat said the issue was brought to the special cabinet committee reviewing the implementation of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and a consensus was reached, but he has yet to see the details of the arrangement.

“They haven’t informed us how this is going to be settled.

“There were some decisions on the matter. I think it was left to the courts to work it out administratively,” Talat said, when asked to comment on Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak David Wong’s Friday statement that the federal government’s amendment of Article 122AB of the constitution in 1994 was done without the consent of the respective state governments.

Article 122AB gave the governors of Sabah and Sarawak the power to appoint the judicial commissioners.

Wong said without the consent, the amendment had thus contravened Article 161E(2)(b) of the constitution.

Wong, who is retiring next month, urged the “relevant stakeholders” to look into this.

He said the amendment not only took away the power of the respective heads of state  to appoint judicial commissioners, it also put an end to the rationale of the provision that was to ensure that there are judges of Borneo judicial experience in the various state superior courts to deal with matters peculiar to the respective states.

De facto law minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Liew Vui Keong in a statement today said that the federal Attorney-General’s Chambers had been tasked by the committee to engage the office of the Chief Registrar of the Federal Court to resolve the matter.

Liew said the issue was “one of the 17 matters upon which consensus has been reached between the federal government and state governments of Sabah and Sarawak”.

The special cabinet committee was chaired by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The chief ministers of Sabah and Sarawak and the states’ respective attorney-generals also sit in the committee.

“This restoration of power will facilitate Bornean representation in hearing cases filed in Borneo,” Liew said

“Judges with Bornean judicial experience are essential in ensuring justice is delivered without fear or favour in cases involving unique Bornean local conditions and customs.” – January 21, 2020.