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KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Law Society (SLS) has called for greater accountability and constitutional awareness within the legal profession, cautioning that ritual without reflection risks entrenching inertia rather than reform.

Its president, Datuk Mohammed Nazim Maduarin (pic), said the Opening of the Legal Year should be a moment of honest assessment on what works, what has failed and what must change, stressing that Sabah’s place within the national legal framework is grounded in statute, not perception.

He said recent amendments to the Legal Profession Act merely recognised Sabah and Sarawak’s long-standing institutional role, while an October 2025 High Court decision in Sabah reaffirmed judicial independence and the courts’ duty to uphold the Constitution, particularly on long-neglected federal–state and financial obligations.

On law reform, Nazim criticised repeated delays in updating outdated legislation, citing stalled mechanisms under planning laws, slow digital governance implementation and the need for disciplined follow-through on enacted reforms such as Sabah’s Climate Change and Carbon Governance Enactment 2025.

He said the SLS would continue advancing Sabah’s constitutional entitlements as a matter of law rather than politics, uphold professional standards under the Advocates Ordinance, and position Sabah as a credible regional legal actor ahead of hosting the ASEAN Bar Leaders Summit in 2027.