KOTA KINABALU: Everyone has a constitutional right to take matters to court, but they must trust that the system will deliver the right decision, says Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said
The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) said those who submit to the judicial system must have confidence in the system.
Azalina said this when asked about issues of locus-standi in the event that anyone’s constitutional right had allegedly been breached and whether anyone could take the matter to court. She was on a working visit to Sabah on Friday (May 17).
It was reported on Thursday (May 16) that the Sabah government, represented by lawyer Tengku Datuk Fuad Ahmed, questioned the Sabah Law Society’s locus-standi in challenging the 40% Special Interim Grant provisions to the state.
“At the end of the day, that is your entitlement (to go to court). When you go to court you are asking the court to make a decision for you,” said Azalina.
She said if anyone was not satisfied with the court’s decision, they could appeal but they must not call the court unjust if the decision does not satisfy them.
“If you submit to the system, you have to have confidence that the system will make the decision to settle any dispute,” she stated.
Earlier, Azalina said that the empirical study of the separation of powers of the Attorney General (AG) and the Public Prosecutor (PP) is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
She said the study was conducted in Canada earlier this month, and subsequent studies are expected to be conducted in Australia in June, the United Kingdom, and several universities thereafter.
She said for Sabah and Sarawak, there are similarities in the system to that of Canada and Australia.
Azalina said that in Canada and Australia, every state within the federation has its own public prosecutors, whereas Sabah and Sarawak, have courts and judges from their respective states.
“But the prosecution is still centralised,” she said.
She said a more in-depth study would be conducted in Sabah and Sarawak in 2025, adding that the promise to parliament was to complete the study within these two years.
