Kota Kinabalu: Up to 250 members of the public will be able to follow the Court of Appeal hearing on Sabah’s constitutional 40 per cent revenue entitlement next month through a live audiovisual transmission at the Kota Kinabalu Court Complex.
The arrangement will allow members of the public to watch the proceedings from the court’s conference hall while the appeal is heard inside the courtroom on Oct 29.
The proceedings will not be broadcast online to the wider public, but the arrangement will allow members of the public to follow the hearing in real time from within the court premises.
The Court of Appeal is scheduled to hear the Federal Government’s appeal against the High Court’s Oct 17, 2025 decision in the judicial review brought by the Sabah Law Society (SLS).
Former SLS President Datuk Roger Chin, who is now a Nominated Assemblyman, said the public access arrangement provided an opportunity for Sabahans to witness the proceedings concerning what he described as a significant constitutional issue.
“This is not an online broadcast of the proceedings to the wider world, but something more immediate and meaningful for the people of Sabah — an opportunity to attend the Court Complex, sit within the premises of the Court and follow the hearing in real time,” he said in a statement, Tuesday.
The appeal concerns, among other matters, the High Court’s findings and orders relating to Sabah’s constitutional entitlement for the period from 1974 to 2021.
The High Court had ruled that the Federal Government had failed to properly conduct the periodic review of Sabah’s special grant under Articles 112C and 112D of the Federal Constitution.
It ordered the federal and Sabah governments to conduct a review of the entitlement for each financial year from 1974 to 2021 and to reach an agreement on the matter.
The Federal Government subsequently appealed, and the Court of Appeal in April granted a stay of execution of the High Court’s order pending disposal of the appeal.
The stay preserved the position pending the appeal and did not determine the substantive constitutional questions.
Under Articles 112C and 112D of the Federal Constitution, Sabah is entitled to a special grant calculated according to a constitutional formula and subject to periodic review.
The SLS has maintained that the failure to conduct the required reviews between 1974 and 2021 was unlawful, while the Federal Government’s position is that the fixed grant under the earlier review order remained legally effective until it was superseded by a new order in 2022.
The competing positions will now be considered by the Court of Appeal.
The appeal is scheduled to begin at 9am on Oct 29 (Thursday) at the Kota Kinabalu Court Complex.
Members of the public attending the viewing will be subject to the capacity of the7 conference hall, security requirements and directions issued by the court and court administration.
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