Page:Report of The Inter-Governmental Committee, Malaysia.pdf/15

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members of the Assembly. The Committee recommends that consideration should be given to a procedure designed to result in representation reflecting the political composition of the State Assembly.

(3) During an initial period after Malaysia Day elections to the State Assemblies should be indirect and during this period elections to the State Assemblies should be a matter on the Concurrent List and not included in item 6(a) of the Federal List.

(4) The Federal Constitution should provide that direct elections will be introduced in each Borneo State for —

(a) the first general election to the House of Representatives, and,

(b) the first general election to the Legislative Assembly

held after the fifth anniversary of Malaysia Day or such earlier date as the Federal Government may, in relation to either State, prescribe with the concurrence of the Government of that State. With effect from this date elections to the State Assemblies should become a matter included in item 6 (a) of the Federal List. In order to enable the first constituencies to be delimited for the purpose of the first direct elections the Federal Constitution should enable the Federal Government to require the Election Commission to consider and make recommendations on the division of a Borneo State into constituencies for the purpose of elections to the House of Representatives or the Legislative Assembly within such time as the Federal Government may specify. Provisions on the lines of the Thirteenth Schedule to the existing Federal Constitution should apply to this first delimitation (The total number of members of the House of Representatives to be elected in each Borneo State will be specified in the Constitution itself―see paragraph 19 above).

(5) When the first constituencies have been delimited, it will be necessary for the Election Commission to prepare electoral rolls for each constituency, and the federal legislation governing the procedure to be followed by the Commission in discharging this function will need to be extended, with any necessary modifications, to the Borneo States concerned, as also will the federal legislation governing the conduct of elections to the House of Representatives and the Legislative Assemblies of the States.

26. The Judiciary

(1) In addition to a supreme Court of Malaysia the Federal Constitution should establish three High Courts, for the States of the existing Federation, Singapore and the Borneo States^[1] respectively.

(2) The supreme Court of the Federation of Malaysia would consist of—

(a) the Chief Justice of Malaysia, who would be President of the Court;

(b) the Chief Justice of the High Court of Malaya;

(c) the Chief Justice of the High Court of Singapore;

(d) the Chief Justice of the High Court of the Borneo States; and

(e) such number of Judges of the supreme Court as Parliament may provide.

The Chief Justice of Malaysia should have power to designate as an Acting Judge of the supreme Court any of the Puisne Judges of the High Courts when he considers that the interests of justice so require.

(3) The Federal Constitution should provide that the supreme Court shall have—

(i) exclusive jurisdiction to hear appeals from the High Courts;

(ii) exclusive original jurisdiction in cases between States and between any State and the Federation; and

(iii) power to determine constitutional questions in accordance with Articles 129 and 130 of the existing Federal Constitution subject to an amendment of Article 129 to permit reference of such a question to the supreme Court from a High Court.

(4) The domicile of the supreme Court should be in Kuala Lumpur. Normally at least one of the Judges of the supreme Court should be a Judge with Bornean judicial experience when the Court is hearing a case arising in a Borneo State; and it should normally sit in a Borneo State to hear appeals in cases arising in that State.

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1. In this paragraph the term "Borneo States" could include Brunei.