THE restructuring of the Sarawak Native Court under the upcoming Native Courts Bill will involve changes to the court’s administration and jurisdiction.
Deputy Minister in the Premier’s Department (Native Law and Customs), Datuk Jefferson Jamit Unyat, said the restructuring will encompass both court administration and the hearing of cases.
He emphasised that the process will be more organised and professional, aligning it with the standards of case management in the civil and syariah courts.
“This transformation will involve changes to the hierarchy of the Bumiputera Court as well as the development of the Office of the Chief Registrar in terms of operations and human resource requirements.
“Under the proposed restructuring of the Bumiputera Court, the court hierarchy will consist of two levels: the Bumiputera Subordinate Court and the Bumiputera High Court.
“From an administrative perspective, the newly restructured court system will have a headquarters located in the Kuching Division, along with three regional centres in the Samarahan, Sibu and Miri Divisions,” he said.
He said this during the question-and-answer session at the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting here on Thursday.
He was responding to John Illus (GPS-Bukit Semuja) regarding the latest status on the studies concerning the upgrading status for the Sarawak Native Court, and whether the changes to the status will have any sort of implication on the administration and the overall implementation of the Native Customs Law once it is enforce.
In terms of court management, Jefferson said that court cases will be handled by qualified and certified magistrates and judges with legal expertise across all four levels of the court system: the Native Magistrates’ Court, the Native High Court, the Native Court of Appeal, and the Native Supreme Court.
