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KUCHING: The High Court ruled today that the President of Parti Bumi Kenyalang, Voon Lee Shan, has no locus standi to intervene in the application of former Chief Justice Richard Malanjum to practice law in Sarawak.
Sabah and Sarawak Abang Chief Judge Iskandar Abang Hashim, who presided over the case, said the decision was made after the Sarawak Bar Association and the Attorney General’s Office did not object.
He also ordered Voon to pay a cost of RM5,000.
Malanjum and former Sabah and Sarawak Chief Judge David Wong Dak Wah, who are Sabahans, were reported to have previously applied to practice law in Sarawak.
However, Abang Iskandar said that the decision for Wong to practice law in Sarawak will be made on October 8 as the latter’s “connection to Sarawak” under Section 2 (2) (a), (b) or (c ) of the 1953 Lawyers Ordinance had been challenged.
Under the law, a person is considered to have connections to Sarawak only if they were born in Sarawak, have habitually resided in Sarawak for a continuous period of five years or more, or satisfy the Chief Justice that they were, at the time the question of whether he has connections to Sarawak is relevant, domiciled in Sarawak.
Malanjum and Wong, who followed the proceedings today via video conference, were represented by Chong Siew Chiang.
Voon was represented by Lim Heng Choo.
Last month, Voon had filed a court request to prevent Malanjum and Wong from practicing law in Sarawak, saying it would open the floodgates for lawyers from the peninsula to go to the state if these requests were allowed.
“It is in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) that lawyers outside of Sarawak are prohibited from practicing law in Sarawak unless they can meet the requirements of the law under the Sarawak Defenders Ordinance of 1953,” he said.
“If this right can be taken away, there is nothing else Sarawak can protect under MA63. Autonomy over migration rights can also be diluted or eliminated ”.
