KUCHING, April 30 — The Sarawak State Assembly tonight called on the state government to stand firm against any move to relocate the principal registry of the High Court in Sabah and Sarawak from here to Kota Kinabalu.
It also urged the state government to immediately undertake all necessary engagements and actions to protect the sanctity of the Federal Constitution and to safeguard the inviolable constitutional rights of Sarawak.
The state assembly made the call following a unanimous adoption of a Private Member’s motion tabled by PKR’s Batu Lintang State Assemblyman See Chee How to protest against any move to relocate the High Court registry.
“The decision to relocate the registry was made in contradiction with Article 121(4) of the Federal Constitution,” he said when tabling the motion.
He said the de facto Law Minister Datuk Liew Vui Keong had issued a statement explicating the decision of impending relocation.
See said Article 121(4) requires that the chief ministers of Sarawak and Sabah must be consulted and consented to any move to relocate the High Court registry from here to Kota Kinabalu.
On April 19, in a circular signed by the Chief Registrar of the Federal Court Datuk Seri Latifah Mohd Tahar, had stated that the registry would be relocated to Kota Kinabalu on May 1.
Following a strong objection from the Chief Minister’s Office, she issued another circular to say that the relocation would not be carried out as planned.
According to Liew, the proposal to move the registry was submitted by the former Chief Justice of Malaysia to the Prime Minister’s Office without consulting the chief ministers of Sarawak and Sabah.
