The Sabah Law and Native Affairs Ministry will restructure the native court based on the syariah or civil court make-up, in particular in terms of hierarchy.

Minister Aidi Moktar said like the syariah or civil court which had the lower court, high court and court of appeal, the native court would also be structured likewise.

“Hence, I will discuss with the Public Services Department in order to create appropriate jobs based on the needs of the native court.

"For example, for our ‘Orang Kaya Kaya’ we will create the Gred 41 post and they must be among local Sabahans who have a degree, the same for ‘Ketua Anak Negeri’ who can be compared to a High Court judge and must have, at least a diploma,” he said after launching the eighth general meeting of the alumni association of the Tawau Islamiyah School (ASIST) in Tawau today.

He said the "Wakil Anak Negeri" (Native Representatives) who could be considered equivalent to lower court judges, need to have a Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia.

"This is to enable the Sabah native court to be deemed credible by the community and for all processes to run smoothly,” said the former Syariah Appeal Court judge who retired in 2015.

He said the restructuring was expected to take place gradually over a period of five years to ensure that the Sabah Native Court was lined up with competent individuals and not appointed because of their political affinities.

- Bernama