Sabah lawyers concerned Arbitration Act amendments will circumvent exclusive practising rights

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah lawyers are concerned that an amendment to the Arbitration Act in 2018 will circumvent the exclusive protection for them to practice in the state.

Sabah Law Society (SLS) president Roger Chin said that the 2018 amendments would allow for foreign and peninsular Malaysia lawyers in arbitration cases to practice in Sabah without being registered in line with the Sabah Advocates Ordinance.

He said they were concerned about Section 3A to the recent amendments to the Arbitration (Amendment) (No.2) Act 2018 that came into force on May 8,2018.

The SLS believes that the new Section 3A should not be used as an attempt to circumvent the provisions of Section 8(1) of the Sabah Advocates Ordinance (Cap 2) which gives the exclusive right to advocates who are registered under the Sabah Advocates Ordinance to practice in Sabah, he said on Sunday (Oct 6).

Chin stressed that this exclusive right was protected under Article 161B of the Federal Constitution.

Chin said that SLS was never consulted in regards to the proposed amendment to the Arbitration (Amendment) (No.2) Act 2018.

He also said that the Federal Court case of Samsuri bin Baharuddin & Ors v Mohamed Azahari bin Matiasin and another held that Section 8(1) of the Sabah Advocates Ordinance gives Sabah advocates the exclusive right to represent a party in arbitration proceedings in Sabah and that this statutory right cannot be taken away.