By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, Feb 25: Chief Justice of Sarawak and Sabah Datuk Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim is satisfied that the former Chief Justice of Sarawak and Sabah Tan Sri David Wong Dak Wah has a Sarawak connection and Wong can now be admitted as an advocate of Sarawak Bar.
Justice Abang Iskandar said that David Wong has a Sarawak connection where he once served as a Judicial Commissioner and High Court Judge in his earlier years and he also served as a former Chief Justice of Sabah and Sarawak and had contributed to the law practice in Sarawak.
As mentioned in Section 2(2) of the Sarawak Advocates Ordinance, “a person shall be deemed to have Sarawak connections for the purposes of this Ordinance if, and only if, he:
(a) has been born in Sarawak; 4 CAP. 110 (1958 ED.)
(b) has been ordinarily resident in Sarawak for a continuous period of five years or more; or
(c) satisfies the Chief Judge that he is, at the time when the question of whether he has Sarawak connections is relevant, domiciled in Sarawak.
Both Former Chief Justice of Malaysia Tan Sri Richard Malajum and former Chief Justice of Sarawak and Sabah Tan Sri David Wong Dak Wah are Sabahans and had applied to be the member of the Sarawak Bar last year.
Malanjum retired in April 2019, and Wong retired in February 2020.
On August 26, Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) president Voon Lee Shan had applied to intervene to safeguard Sarawak lawyers’ interest and to ensure that lawyers from outside Sarawak will be blocked to practice in the State. The interest of practising lawyers in Sarawak as provided by the Federal Constitution based on the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
On Sept 15, 2020, Justice Abang Iskandar is satisfied that Richard Malajum is a fit and a proper person to be a member of the Sarawak Bar and had allowed Malanjum to be a member of the Sarawak Bar.
Datuk Abang Iskandar also ruled that Voon had no locus standi to intervene in the application by former chief justice Richard Malanjum to be a member of Sarawak bar and dismissed Voon’s intervener application with the cost of RM 30,000 and instructed Voon to pay RM5,000 to each petitioner and each party involved.
Voon then had filed an application to the High Court to set aside the order of advocate admission Sarawak Advocates Ordinance 1953. This application will be heard on March 1, before Judicial Commissioner Alexander Siew How Wai.
Malanjum and Wong were represented by Chong Siew Chiang and Michale Kong whereas Voon was represented by Lim Heng Choo and RJ Noel. -DayakDaily
