Claim marked as ‘non-negotiable’ under MA63 action council, says Sabah AG
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah stands firm on its rights to its maritime boundaries and maintains that they are not up for negotiation in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) action council, according to state Attorney General Datuk Brenndon Keith Soh (pic).
He said the federal Territorial Sea Act 2012 (TSA 2012) was not applicable to Sabah as it remained a “territory of the state” as declared by the North Borneo (Alteration of Boundaries) Order in Council 1954.
“This claim has been officially recorded on Sept 12, 2024, as being ‘non-negotiable’ under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 Implementation Action Council chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim,” he said.
The TSA 2012 and continental shelf remain on the “agree to disagree” list, he said while acknowledging that there has been significant progress under the council on other state claims and rights.
A continental shelf that borders a country’s shoreline is considered to be a continuation of the country’s land territory.
However, when the TSA 2012 took effect, the state’s boundaries were limited to three nautical miles from its shoreline.
Soh said following the latest council meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof had said the matter would be discussed at the highest level between the Prime Minister, Sabah Chief Minister and Sarawak Premier.
“We will continue to uphold the state government’s position in moving forward,” he said.
On the recent Kota Kinabalu High Court decision to turn down the Sabah government’s proposal to assist as amicus curiae (an impartial adviser to a court) in the case of the NGO Sabah Action Body Advocating Rights (Sabar) challenging the legality of the TSA 2012 in limiting the state’s maritime boundaries to three nautical miles, Soh said they respected the judge’s decision.
“Sabar supported our Sabah government’s offer but the federal Attorney General objected to the state’s role to assist the court.
“It was the court’s discretion to determine whether our assistance was required or not to decide on the legal dispute between these two parties. In this case, the court decided otherwise,” Soh explained.
Despite this outcome, he said the Sabah government remains sincere in its offer to provide the state’s official legal views on this matter of public interest.
“Rest assured that we will certainly continue to monitor the developments of this case very closely,” he added.
Soh said based on the court ruling, it remained open for the state government to intervene as a party in the legal proceedings.
“This option will be rigorously considered among all other options, depending on the result of the MA63 council deliberation on this matter,” he said.
