The Court of Appeal will fix another date to complete hearing an appeal against a landmark judgment involving native customary rights (NCR) to land in Bintulu, Sarawak.

The three-member panel led by Justice Abu Samah Nordin has so far heard submissions from the Sarawak government, but not yet from Tabung Haji and two other companies.

Lawyer Baru Bian, representing 38 Iban families named as respondents in the Sarawak government appeal, has also yet to submit. Baru is assisted by lawyers See Chee How and Desmond Kho.

Counsel for the Sarawak government, JC Fong, submitted today that the Sarawak High Court judge had erred in his judgment as NCR land has never included customary forest land which the community uses for food resources.

The other members of the appellate bench are Justices Mohd Hishammuddin Mohd Yunus and Azhar Ma'ah.

Some 25 Iban affected families had flown to Kuala Lumpur to observe the court proceedings.

The parties agreed to have the hearing be held in Putrajaya to resolve the land dispute as the Court of Appeal only sits in Kuching or Kota Kinabalu once in every three months.

On Jan 21 this year, the Sarawak High Court handed down a landmark judgment by ruling that 1,000 hectares of land in a Bintulu forest was part of the native customary land.

As such, the other parties were found to have encroached on the land in 1998 by planting oil palm, leading to the court awarding damages.

In February, the court disallowed a stay application by the state government and the two companies. However, all parties consented to a stay pending the final disposal of the suit.

Legal suit

Agi Bungkong and the occupants of 15 Iban longhouses had filed the suit against Tabung Haji, Ladang Sawit Bintulu, Semai Mekar Sdn Bhd and the Sarawak government, after their native land had been converted into oil palm plantations.

High Court judge David Wong, in his judgment, caused a stir by ordering the state government and the three operators to immediately return 1,115ha of NCR land taken from Agi and the 15 communities in Sebauh, 30km from Bintulu.

In the wake of the High Court decision, the state government slammed the verdict by arguing that Article 153 of the federal constitution does not protect the land rights of Malay and Dayak natives in Sarawak.

The Sarawak government has been facing intense pressure to curb its enthusiastic support of big business - in particular, wealthy oil palm companies - in taking over the NCR land of indigenous communities across its vast state.

On May 5, 2009, the Federal Court upheld the concept of NCR to land as including not only one class of such land called temuda (cultivated land), but also pulau (communal forest) and pemakai menua (territorial domain) - delivering a rare victory to the natives.

There are more than 100 such similar legal suits pending in Sarawak.