10-05-2025
Court ‘yes' to Sabar's request for additional documents in Territorial Sea Act case
Published on: Saturday, May 10, 2025
Published on: Sat, May 10, 2025
By: Jo Ann Mool Text Size: A declaration that the territory of Sabah, after the annulment of the Proclamation of Emergency of 1969 on June 19, 2012, includes the continental shelf under the North Borneo (Alteration of Boundaries) Order in Council 1954; Kota Kinabalu: The High Court here on Friday granted leave to the Sabah Action Body Advocating Rights' (Sabar) to produce additional documents in its action in challenging the Territorial Sea Act (TSA) 2012. Judge Alexander Siew How Wai in its ruling granted the plaintiff's application to seek leave to adduce additional 500 pages of documents from the British archives on the colonial office correspondence leading up to and after the North Borneo Order in Council (Alteration of Boundaries) 1954 and North Borneo Order in Council (Definition of Boundaries) 1958. In September 2023, the originating summons was filed by Sabar's chairman Datuk Dr Johan Arriffin Samad disputing the validity of the TSA, which limits the State's maritime boundary to only three nautical miles and named the government of the Federation of Malaysia as the sole defendant. The plaintiff is also seeking a declaration that the Continental Shelf Act 1966 and Petroleum Mining Act 1966 is inapplicable, unconstitutional, invalid, null and void in the territory of Sabah after June 19, 2012; A declaration that the territory of Sabah, after the annulment of the Proclamation of Emergency of 1969 on June 19, 2012, includes the continental shelf under the North Borneo (Alteration of Boundaries) Order in Council 1954; A declaration that the Mining Ordinance 1960 is valid in Sabah after June 19, 2012; A declaration that Section 3(3) Territorial Seas Act 2012 which limits the territorial waters of Sabah to three nautical miles is inapplicable, unconstitutional, invalid, null and void in Sabah as of June 22, 2012; A declaration that the territorial waters of Sabah, after the annulment of the Proclamation of Emergency of 1969 on June 19, 2012, includes the 12 nautical miles of sea under the Convention on Territorial Seas and Contiguous Zone 1958 and North Borneo (Definition Of Boundaries) Order In Council 1958; cost and any further or other relief deems fit. Earlier, in Friday's proceedings the defendant's counsel informed the court that the parties agreed and no objections to the application and requested for three months to file the affidavit in response. Siew directed the plaintiff to file the 500 documents by May 23; the defendant to file any response and other documents by Aug 22 and the plaintiff to file any reply by Sept 22. He fixed Oct 3 for further mention. The plaintiff was represented by counsel Roland Cheng while Senior Federal Counsels Shamsul Bolhassan and Ahmad Hanir Hambaly @ Arwi, acted for the defendant. * Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss. * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
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