Arm govt with legal repository on Sulu Sultanate issue, Sabah urged

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah should set up a legal repository on issues related to the Sulu Sultanate for the Federal Government’s reference.

Sabah Law Society (SLS) president Roger Chin said such a legal repository could be placed under the Sabah Attorney General’s Chambers, which would then have on hand the full historical background and legal arguments.

“Whenever Sulu claims come up, it is usually handled by the (Federal-level) Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) and they do not have enough insight to pursue legal issues they face,” he said.

“With a repository, anytime they have to deal with this issue, they will contact the Sabah AGC,” he said Tuesday following a SLS webinar discussion on Philippines/Sulu claims on Monday (April 5).

The panel of speakers included former attorney general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas, Singapore-based Queen’s Counsel Dr Colin Ong and former Sabah chief minister Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee.

“The collection of information – including crucial historical information – is haphazard and spread out over disparate individuals,” Chin said.

He said even Thomas relayed that he was not aware of certain historical documents when handling the Federal Government’s case against so-called Sulu heirs.

Chin questioned if the AGC has such documents at hand.

“Without such documents, how can Malaysia sustain a strong and credible defence to the Sulu claim?” he said.

“Sabah is merely informed about what the Government does about Sulu claims but is never an active participant,” he said, adding that the state is not roped in to strategise although this was a logical step.

Chin said that SLS was willing and eager to assist the state government to set up the repository.

During the discussion, Yong and local history enthusiast Prof Amde Sidek and Shari Jeffri produced historical documents and treaties, said to show that Sulu sultanate heirs did not have any legal standing.

Discussing the Paris arbitration court’s decision to award RM64bil to Sulu heirs, Ong, who is also an international arbitrator, said that Malaysia has to challenge the case to the highest court in France if required.

However, he suggested that Malaysia could consider a non-binding conciliation with the claimants to resolve the issue.

Thomas had said that Spanish arbitrator Gonzala Stampa had acted like a “rogue” by taking the case to a Paris court.

Malaysia had obtained an order to set aside the claimants’ hearings at a Spanish court in 2019.