East Malaysia - Administration

Administration

It has been a source of debate whether the states of Sabah and Sarawak joined the Federation of Malaysia as equal partners with Malaya and Singapore or whether they became merely equal partners of the states of Malaya (Peninsular Malaysia). The consensus seems to be that Sabah and Sarawak are merely one of the states in the federation with a slightly higher degree of autonomy compared to other states in Peninsular Malaysia. For example, the East Malaysian states have separate laws regulating the entry of citizens from other states in Malaysia, including the other East Malaysian state, whereas, in Peninsular, there are no restriction for interstate travel or migration, including visitors from East Malaysia. There are also separate land law governing Sabah and Sarawak, instead of the National Land Code which governs the whole of Peninsular Malaysia.

With regard to the administration of justice, the courts in East Malaysia are part of the federal court system in Malaysia. The Constitution of Malaysia provides that there shall be two High Courts of coordinate jurisdiction – The High Court in Malaya and the High Court in Sabah and Sarawak (formerly the High Court in Borneo). The current Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak is Richard Malanjum from Sabah. His office is the fourth highest in the Malaysian judicial system.