Negeri Sembilan Court History
Background of Malaysian Courts and Negeri Sembilan Courts
The Malaysian Court system originates from a charter in 1807 known as the First Charter of Justice which gave the British East India Company the right from the British Empire to hold a Court of Justice in the British settlements in the state of Penang.
Istana Kehakiman Putrajaya
Before the formation of Malaysia in 1963, there were three Supreme Courts in the Commonwealth of Southeast Asia:-
- Supreme Court of the Federation of Malaya
- Supreme Court of Singapore
- Supreme Court of Sarawak, North Borneo and Brunei
Each Supreme Court consists of a High Court and a Court of Appeal is headed by the Chief Justice.
A Supreme Court of Justice has been established in Brunei.
The High Court of Singapore ceased to be part of the Malaysian court system when Singapore left the federation on 9 August 1965.
Once upon a time, Malaysia's highest court was the Privy Council in London, even after the independence of Malaya and the subsequent formation of Malaysia in 1963. At that time, the enforcement of article 131 of the Federal Constitution allowed appeals for Federal Court decisions to be referred to the Privy Council. . With the abrogation of this agreement in 1985, the judicial system depends on the British judicial system ended.
The structure of the Malaysian Judiciary can be divided into two parts, namely the Supreme Court and the Subordinate Court
The highest court in Malaysia is the Federal Court followed by the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Malaya and the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak.
Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad, Kuala Lumpur
The Subordinate Court consists of the Sessions Court and the Magistrate's Court.
The Special Court was established through the Federal Constitution on 20 March 1993 and has jurisdiction to try civil actions or criminal actions initiated by or against His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or other Malay Rulers.
In Negeri Sembilan, for almost a century, the people of the court occupied the old offices located in Jalan Dato' Hamzah (High Court) and Jalan Campbell (Sessions and Magistrates' Court) for 72 years from 1932 to 2004.
At the beginning of the establishment of the Negeri Sembilan Court, Malaya was still ruled by the British government until it achieved independence in 1957. Almost all Legal Officers were of British descent, and only after the 50s were one or two officers from Malaya appointed as President (Judge ).
After the people of the Negeri Sembilan Court moved to the Seremban Court Complex in Seremban 2 in 2005, the Campbell Street Building was taken over as the Negeri Sembilan Legal Adviser's Office until today. Meanwhile, Jalan Dato' Hamzah Building was taken over by the Negeri Sembilan Department of Islamic Religion to be used as the Negeri Sembilan Syariah Court.
The Seremban Court Complex, Negeri Sembilan is one of the projects that aims to relocate the High Court, Session Court, and Seremban Magistrate's Court.
The project site area is 5 acres in Lot 22184, Mukim Rasah, Seremban 2. The complex is located approximately 10 km from Seremban Town and 6 km from the North-South Expressway (PLUS) Toll.
Construction work began on September 23, 2003 and was fully completed on November 25, 2004.
This building has 2 floors with a sub-basement floor that contains 3 High Courts, 4 Sessions Courts and 5 Magistrates' Courts as well as permanent workspaces, staff workspaces, support spaces, mechanical and electrical service spaces and related basic facilities such as surau, toilet, lawyer's room, library, witness room, cafeteria, auction room, children's room and so on.
This project has already started as early as 1998 from the discussion of land purchase, design and facilities that need to be held to avoid any difficulties. The management of the Seremban Court Complex Project as a whole is carried out by the Malaysian Public Works Department (JKR) and the way the project is procured is through "Design and Build" (Direct Negotiation) has been carried out by Seremban Two Sdn Bhd (formerly known as RB Land Sdn Bhd) and contractors who has been appointed is Syarikat Seremban Two Sdn Bhd.
Negeri Sembilan Court Complex, Seremban 2
The design of this complex based on Minangkabau characteristics was produced by Syarikat WacArkitek appointed by Seremban Two Sdn Bhd.
After this project was successfully completed, the building of the Seremban Court Complex was handed over to the Development Division, Legal Affairs Division, and Prime Minister's Department on 1 December 2004. The transfer from the Jalan Campbell Court and the Jalan Dato' Hamzah Court to the new Seremban Court Complex was started on January 26, 2005, in stages starting from the Administrative Division, Civil Division, Criminal Division, and Financial Division until the entire building is filled.
The duration taken for this transfer is 4 days. Ijjasniaga Sdn Bhd has been appointed for the transfer process.
The total number of officers and staff occupying this complex at that time was 86 people (now 137 people). The equipment and tools in the Seremban Court Complex at that time were brand new to replace the old equipment and tools that had worn out along with the establishment of the new Seremban Court Complex. At that time all kinds of cases were tried in this complex.
The Seremban Court Complex has become the Court Center in Negeri Sembilan.
On 21 July 2005 (Thursday), corresponding to 14 Jamadilakhir 1426 H, the Seremban Court Complex was inaugurated by the Yang Di-Pertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan Darul Khusus, the late DYMM Tuanku Jaafar Ibni the late Tuanku Abdul Rahman and now the Seremban Court Complex has changed its name to the State Court Nine since 2011.
Source: Majalah Majlis Perasmian Kompleks Mahkamah Seremban