KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Brenndon Keith Soh, the Legal Advisor to the Chief Minister of Sabah in a statement today stated that they commended the decision today of the Court of Appeal [COA] in upholding the position of the High Court in granting leave to the Sabah Law Society [SLS] to proceed with the substantive hearing of their judicial review in respect of the 40% special grant provided under the Federal Constitution.
The COA in dismissing the appeal by the Federal Attorney General’s Chambers [FAGC] had disagreed with the FAGC arguments that the SLS had no “locus standi” or that the matter was non-justiciable.
No order as to costs were made by the COA.
It is important to record that prior to the delivery of the decision, the State Government
of Sabah (represented by the State Attorney-General and myself) was requested to
and did orally confirm its stand, namely that this significant constitutional issue ought to
be fully ventilated on the merits at the substantive hearing of SLS’s application in the
High Court, the statement read.
“In addition, we had further confirmed that we had withdrawn the earlier submissions made on 16th May 2024. Therefore, we did not support the FAGC’s appeal against the High Court decision to grant leave to the SLS.”
Moving forward, the State Government of Sabah will be heard as a party to the proceedings in the High Court. As stated by the COA, this is a matter of “high constitutional importance” and it is thus appropriate to be judicially interpreted and determined as a matter of public interest.
In the meantime and separately, negotiations are expected to continue between the State and Federal Governments on the 40% net revenue special grant under Article 112C and 112D of the Federal Constitution – as agreed pursuant to the interim arrangement between the respective governments.-pr/BNN
