OPENING OF THE LEGAL YEAR SABAH AND SARAWAK 2024

19 January 2024 - Kota Kinabalu

The Opening of the Legal Year is a ceremonial event that marks the beginning of the legal calendar and one that is adopted by many countries around the world annually.

In tandem with the Opening of the Sabah and Sarawak Legal Year 2024, more than 500 legal practitioners, hailing from Malaysia and other parts of the world - Brunei, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, United Kingdom,   took part in a 1-km walk for justice along the coast of Kota Kinabalu - from Sabah Hakka Complex to the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) clad in their long black robes. 

Heading the walk were the Right Honourable Tun Tengku Maimun bt Tuan Mat (Chief Justice of Malaysia), the Right Honourable Tan Sri Dato’ Amar Abang Iskandar bin Abang Hashim (President of the Court of Appeal), the Right Honourable Tan Sri Dato’ Mohamad Zabidin bin Mohd Diah (Chief Judge of Malaya) and the Right Honourable Tan Sri Dato’ Abdul Rahman bin Sebli (Chief Judge of the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak).

Tan Sri Dato’ Abdul Rahman Bin Sebli, delivered the welcoming address  in which he congratulated the newly appointed members of the judiciary before moving on to reflect on the events and  achievements of thejudiciary over the past year. While reminiscing about his first Legal Year Opening for the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak in 2009 as a newly appointed judicial commissioner at the Kota Kinabalu High Court, he highlighted the significant progress made since, especially with the digitalisation of the Sabah and Sarawak court systems through the e-Kehakiman Sabah Sarawak (EKSS) project and the Intelligence in Court Sentencing (AiCOS) system (introduced in 2020 under the leadership of the former Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima David Wong Dak Wah) which he acknowledges requires constant monitoring and enhancement to ensure that it remains secure, convenient and reliable to all stakeholders.

Speaking on the Mobile Court Programmes in Sabah and Sarawak, he urged the legal fraternity to not lose sight of the needs of those in remote and rural areas. 

Addressing the legal luminaries present, his Lordship underscored the importance of keeping oneself abreast with the latest development of the law and encouraged greater efficiency and expeditiousness in the disposal of cases.

Setting the tone for the legal year, Tan Sri Dato’ Abdul Rahman Bin Sebli reinforced the notion that members of the judiciary, each in their own way, must continue joint efforts to achieve the shared goal of upholding justice and to maintain a legal system that is fair, transparent and worthy of public trust and confidence. Ending his speech with a poem on justice, the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak then declared the 2024 Legal Year of Sabah and Sarawak officially open.