KUCHING, Feb 18: The Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government needs to seriously look into amending the Sarawak Advocates Ordinance to better protect Sarawakians and the future generations before the influx of foreign lawyers come in and mess with their rice bowl.
Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) president Voon Lee Shan, in making this call, stressed that the Sarawak Advocates Ordinance needed to be amended to protect the interest of Sarawak under the Federal Constitution and uphold the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), which prohibits non-Sarawakians without Sarawak connections to practise law in Sarawak.
He warned that Sarawak couldn’t just open the floodgates for foreign lawyers from countries like Australia, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and the United States, apart from those from Peninsular Malaysia, to come in as resident lawyers in Sarawak.
“What would happen if they operate remotely from overseas by just opening a small office manned by a clerk or modern technology, instead of being physically present in Sarawak?
“There is a need to protect the ‘rice bowl’ (livelihood) of our children and future generations because we do not have the resources to compete with foreigners,” he said in a statement today.
This statement came following the Appeal Court’s dismissal of Voon’s move to disallow former Chief Justice of Malaysia Tan Sri Richard Malajum and former Chief Justice of Sarawak and Sabah Tan Sri David Wong Dak Wah as advocates in Sarawak.
Voon emphasised that his appeal case, which has attracted much public interest, is an important issue that deserves serious attention from the GPS government.
“The Court of Appeal ruled that I have no locus standi to intervene the application of YAA (Yang Amat Arif) Tan Sri Richard Malanjum and YAA Tan Sri David Wong Dak Wah. Both of them are my friends, and I had nothing personal against them when I sought to intervene.
“The court ruled that only the Advocates Association of Sarawak (AAS) and the Sarawak government, which is represented by the Sarawak Attorney General Chambers (SAG), and no other have the right to appear in court when lawyers outside Sarawak seek admission to practise law in Sarawak,” he explained.
However, Voon pointed out that not all lawyers in Sarawak are members of the AAS. As such, the GPS government should act to protect Sarawak lawyers’ interests and ensure lawyers who fail to comply with the requirements of the law are not allowed to practice in Sarawak. — DayakDaily
