Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Attorney-General Datuk Brenndon Keith Soh on Saturday affirmed that the Territorial Sea Act 2012 (TSA 2012) is not applicable to Sabah.
Hence, the continental shelf remains the territory of the State as declared by the North Borneo (Alteration of Boundaries) Order in Council 1954.
He said this claim was officially recorded on Sept 12, 2024 as being “non-negotiable” under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 Action Council (MA63 Council) chaired by the Prime Minister.
“Notwithstanding that there has been significant progress under the MA63 Council on other State claims and rights, the TSA 2012 and continental shelf remain on the ‘agree to disagree’ list.
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“We will continue to uphold the State Government’s position moving forward,” he said.
“As to the recent finding of the High Court to decline our proposal for assistance as amicus curiae, we have the utmost respect for the decision of the learned High Court Judge.
“The Sabah Action Body Advocating Rights’ (Sabar) had supported our offer of assistance but the Federal Attorney General had objected to our intended role.
“In any event, it is the discretion of the court to determine whether our assistance is required or not to decide the legal dispute between these two parties. In this case, the court decided otherwise.
“Despite this outcome, we remain sincere in our offer of support to provide the State’s official legal views on this matter of public interest. Rest assured, we will certainly continue to monitor the developments of this case very closely.
“As stated in the ruling of the court, it remains open for the State Government to intervene as a party in the legal proceedings and this option will be rigorously considered amongst all other options depending on the result of the MA63 Council on this matter,” he said.
For the record, the High Court on Friday declined the State Government’s amicus curiae (friend of the court) application in the Sabah Action Body Advocating Rights’ (Sabar) action in disputing the validity of the Territorial Sea Act 2012 (TSA) which limits the State’s maritime boundary to only three nautical miles.
Judge Alexander Siew How Wai, in his ruling, said the Court is of the view that it may not be appropriate for the State Attorney-General Chambers (SAGC) to be an amicus curiae in the litigation.
On Sept. 11, the SAGC applied for leave to act as amicus curiae in the originating summons of Sabar, which named the Government of the Federation of Malaysia as the sole defendant, which had objected to the said application.
The plaintiff, in the action filed in September 2023, is seeking a declaration that the Continental Shelf Act 1966 and Petroleum Mining Act 1966 is inapplicable, unconstitutional, invalid, null and void in the territory of Sabah after June 19, 2012.
A declaration that the territory of Sabah, after the annulment of the Proclamation of Emergency of 1969 on June 19, 2012, includes the continental shelf under the North Borneo (Alteration of Boundaries) Order in Council 1954;
A declaration that the Mining Ordinance 1960 is valid in Sabah after June 19, 2012;
A declaration that Section 3(3) of the Territorial Sea Act 2012 which limits the territorial waters of Sabah to three nautical miles is inapplicable, unconstitutional, invalid, null and void in Sabah as of June 22, 2012;
A declaration that the territorial waters of Sabah, after the annulment of the Proclamation of Emergency of 1969 on June 19, 2012, includes the 12 nautical miles of sea under the Convention on Territorial Seas and Contiguous Zone 1958 and North Borneo (Definition Of Boundaries) Order In Council 1958; cost and any further or other relief deems fit.
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