Malaysia: The High Court nullifies a case of land alienation in Sandakan

Sandakan, Malaysia - On January 8, 2015 The High Court nullified a case of land eviction of 500 acres at Kg Ansuan, Telupid, by the Lands and Surveys Department by declaring that the natives had not received a sufficient notice to claim customary rights under Section 13 of the Sabah Land Ordinance.

In delivering the landmark decision the Judicial Commissioner Datuk Douglas Cristo Primus also stated that the Lands and Surveys Department Director and the Sabah State Government have a fiduciary duty to the natives of Sabah in safeguarding their native customary land. Having considered the evidence adduced at the trial, Primus declared that the native defendants have proved native customary rights in the land claimed by them.

An activist on land rights for indigenous people, Galus Ahtoi, said it was an important judgment and breakthrough on native land rights in Sabah delivered by the High Court, affirming the recognition and respect to native land rights in land alienation process provided under the law.