Kota Sentosa State Assemblyman and Advocate of the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak, Wilfred Yap, has voiced serious concern over the current structure of the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC), highlighting the lack of representation for Sabah and Sarawak in the judicial selection process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe absence of a single Sabahan on the nine-member Judicial Appointments Commission goes against the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and undermines the principle of equal partnership within our Federation,\u201d Yap said in a statement today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He stated that the 18-Point and 20-Point Agreements for Sarawak and Sabah respectively, as well as the Malaysia Agreement 1963, make it clear that the Borneo states must be treated as equal partners, including in the administration of justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yap also pointed to Article 122B(3) of the Federal Constitution, which requires the Prime Minister to consult the Chief Minister of Sabah or Sarawak before advising the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the appointment of the Chief Judge of the High Court in Sabah and Sarawak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlthough the consultation is not binding, it reflects the intent of the Constitution to ensure that Sabah and Sarawak have a say in judicial appointments affecting their own states. This cannot be reduced to a symbolic gesture,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In light of growing public concern over judicial independence, Yap said it is time for genuine reforms. He proposed an Independent Judicial Appointments Committees for Sabah and Sarawak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yap called for each state to have its own appointments committee to identify and propose suitable candidates for judicial positions in the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak, including the Chief Judge. This, he said, would give real meaning to the constitutional consultation process and ensure appointments reflect local legal expertise and values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also urged that a legal quota be established to ensure fair representation of judges from Sabah and Sarawak in the Federal Court and Court of Appeal, stating that relying solely on executive discretion is insufficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese reforms would restore public confidence, uphold the constitutional balance, and reinforce the promise that Malaysia belongs equally to all its component regions \u2014 Malaya, Sabah, and Sarawak,\u201d Yap said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He urged the Federal Government, the Conference of Rulers, and Members of Parliament to seriously consider these proposals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s time we move from rhetoric to real institutional change. Sabah and Sarawak must be given the respect and role they were promised when Malaysia was formed,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kota Sentosa State Assemblyman and Advocate of the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak, Wilfred Yap, has voiced serious concern over the current structure of the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC), highlighting the lack of representation for Sabah and Sarawak in the judicial selection process. \u201cThe absence of a single Sabahan on the nine-member Judicial Appointments Commission goes against the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and undermines the principle of equal partnership within our Federation,\u201d Yap said in a statement today. He stated that the 18-Point and 20-Point Agreements forRead More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33311,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,1,7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33310"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33310"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33312,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33310\/revisions\/33312"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}