03-08-2025
TYT Sarawak honoured by inaugural bencher recognition from nation's legal fraternity
Wan Junaidi accepts the plaque from ICM president Tun Arifin Zakaria (right), witnessed by ICM Exco Sarawak Tan Kee Heng, who is also the event's organising chairman. — Information Department photo
KUCHING (Aug 3): Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sarawak Tun Pehin Sri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar has been formally inducted as the first Honorary Bencher of the Inns of Court Malaysia (ICM).
The recognition signifies his contributions to the legal fraternity in the country.
'Thank you to all of those who are involved in giving me this honour of being the first bencher for the ICM.
'I feel humbled by the recognition that you gave me,' he said in his special address delivered during the ICM Grand Dining 2025, held in conjunction with the inaugural benching ceremony at a hotel here on Saturday night.
Adding on, Wan Junaidi reflected on his time in public office, particularly his 13-month tenure as Minister in Prime Minister's Department in charge of Parliament and law, during which he successfully amended the Federal Constitution three times – a feat he described as 'unprecedented'.
'It never before been done.
'It was historical in a sense because the law that I brought to Parliament would require amending the Constitution to make it effective,' he said.
Among the amendments was the enactment of the anti-defection law, also known as the 'Anti-Hopping Law'.
In this regard, Wan Junaidi said he had insisted that the provision be embedded in the Federal Constitution to ensure its legal permanence and resistance to political changes.
'Even though the government actually proposed that it must be the Act of Parliament, I wanted it to be more permanent in a sense, so it could not be amended by a simple majority in Parliament.
'So I advised the government that I must amend the constitution so that it would require the two-thirds majority under Article 159.'
Under Article 159(3) of the Federal Constitution, any Bill seeking to amend the Constitution – unless specifically exempted – must be passed in both the Dewan Rakyat (Lower House) and Dewan Negara (Upper House, or Senate) with the support of not less than two-thirds of the total number of members.
The second amendment, he said, was to formally recognise the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) in the Constitution.
'While MA63 has long been cited in public discourse, I have observed that many lack a clear understanding of its content.
'The Agreement itself, signed on the July 9, 1963, comprises two pages and two clauses.
'Still, it also involved other documents like the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report and Cobbold Commission Report – all part and parcel of the whole documentation that became the treaty between Great Britain and Malaya for the formation of Malaysia,' he elaborated.
Wan Junaidi added that because MA63 had not been incorporated into the Constitution, it could not serve as a valid basis for Sarawak and Sabah to negotiate with the federal government over the fulfilment of the terms set out in the Agreement.
'So for the last 58 years, we never got anything, for reasons that the treaty was never recognised by the Constitution.'
This, he pointed out, was also followed by an amendment to Article 161A of the Constitution, which reverted the power to determine native status to the Sarawak government.
At the federal level, Wan Junaidi was hailed as the driving force behind efforts to revive the Parliamentary Services Act, aimed at restoring Parliament's institutional independence following its repeal in 1992.
'That was the reason why it was, the reason, the regularity of my action in amending the constitution during that time,' said the Sarawak's Head of State. Honorary Bencher lead legal fraternity Tun Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar
