RCI says no dice to the SLA request
Published on: Tuesday, April 16, 2013
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Commission Chairman Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong, in his decision, said the SLA was not entitled to the statements recorded under Section 112 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) as the association (SLA) was an amicus curiae in the proceedings.
He noted that judicial proceedings under the RCI were non-adversarial in nature because there were no opposing parties.
"The SLA is a non-adversarial party in the proceedings. It's to be noted that the SLA is appearing before the RCI in its capacity as an amicus curiae or an interested party whose main purpose is to assist and advise the RCI on matters of law relevance to the terms of reference," he said.
Shim further said that even if SLA was held to be entitled to the statements, there was still the question of whether it was appropriate or necessary to grant the request sought for under the circumstances, and this comes within the discretion of the RCI.
The panel made the ruling after hearing submissions from SLA counsel led by Alex Decena, and conducting officer Manoj Kurup, on March 18.
The commission's panel members comprise former Universiti Malaysia Sabah vice-chancellor Professor Datuk Seri Dr Kamaruzaman Ampon; former Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Henry Chin Poy Wu; former Sabah state secretary Datuk Kee Mustafa; and former Sabah deputy chief minister and former Sabah attorney-general Tan Sri Herman J.Luping.
In the ruling, Shim also said that SLA had requested for copies of the witness statements on grounds that it could more effectively assist and advise the RCI.
"We think that this argument was quite tenuous given the fact that three senior conducting officers appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong are tasked with leading and presenting evidence before the RCI on the basis of the statements recorded under Section 112 of the CPC," he said.
Shim added that the trio - Manoj, Datuk Azmi Ariffin and Jamil Aripin - were more than competent in carrying out their responsibilities.
He pointed out that the SLA had thus far rendered valuable assistance to the RCI, with pertinent questions having been posed to the witnesses during the RCI proceedings.
Shim said the panel was confident that the counsels from the SLA would continue to do so on the basis of the evidence given orally during the course of the inquiry.
He said the panel was of the view that the non-availability to the witness statements did not and had not, in any way, diminished the quality and effectiveness of SLA assistance to the RCI.
"For the reasons stated, we take the view that it's unnecessary for the SLA to have access to the statements in question. Accordingly, the request for copies of such statements is hereby denied," he declared.
Meanwhile, the RCI would hold its fourth hearing session at the Kota Kinabalu High Court next month. The 10-day session would begin on May 20. It was initially scheduled for between March 5 and 9, but was postponed.
The first hearing session was held for five days, beginning Jan 14.
To date, 62 witnesses had been called to testify.
On March 13, Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah extended the RCI proceedings by six months, from March 21 to Sept 20, this year to enable parties to complete the investigation and compilation of reports according to Section 5 of the Commission of Enquiry Act 1950 (Act 119).
The commission was initially given six months to wrap up investigations and present a report with recommendations to the Agong, from the date of the appointment of its panel on Sept 21. It expired on March 20.
Eight terms of reference were outlined, including to enquire into the number of immigrants in Sabah who had been issued blue identification cards or citizenship, and whether such a move was in accordance with the law.
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