‘Cabinet agrees to appoint more High Court judges for Sabah, Sarawak’

The cabinet today decided to give priority to Sabah and Sarawak in appointing more High Court judges, said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Speaking to the press after today's cabinet meeting in Putrajaya, Anwar said the two Borneo states need more judges due to the increasing number of cases that the courts there have to handle.

The premier also said that Putrajaya would look into the issue of court premises in Sabah and Sarawak, as many were said to be in poor condition.

"(During today's cabinet meeting), there was a proposal to increase the number of High Court judges for Sabah and Sarawak.

"So, we will give some priority... firstly on adding more positions (of judges) because of the increasing number of cases in Sabah and Sarawak.

"Secondly, we will look into the state of court buildings in Sabah and Sarawak, because some had been found to be in quite a poor condition," he said.

Appointment of Children’s Commissioner

According to the premier, Putrajaya would follow the Federal Constitution in appointing more judges in the Borneo states, where such matters must be referred to the respective states' governors before being presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Meanwhile, during the presser, Anwar also announced the cabinet's decision to appoint a Children's Commissioner to Suhakam.

"There will be a special branch that is autonomous under Suhakam (for this) because there are too many abuse cases and social issues involving children.

"We have also asked Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to chair a committee on social issues and look into the related matters, which are also under the purview of (Women, Family and Community Development Minister) Nancy Shukri,” Anwar said. - Mkini