Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Native Customary School (SAANS) wants native laws to be included in the soon to be established Faculty of Law at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) as this will elevate the credibility of native court at par with syariah and civil court.
Applauding the establishment, The SAANS pioneer Shalmon Sanangan said, this is a good opportunity for them to empower the native court (MAN).
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“SAANS is ready to collaborate in term of supplying adat expert and to provide them student from our customary schools. I want to emphasize that SAANS is the only institution doing the lecture at certificate level at the moment at the Sekolah Adat.
“The establishment of a Faculty of Law at the university is expected to strengthen the development of legal education in Sabah, particularly within the context of its multi-ethnic society and plural legal system,” he said in statement.
At the moment SAANS is collaborating with BorIIS, UMS under the Makmal Hidup Sekolah Adat Anak Negeri (Sabah Native Customary School Living Lab).
He said, the proposed Faculty of Law at UMS should collaborate closely with the Sabah Native Court system to reflect the state’s unique legal pluralism.
Shalmon believes the establishment represents an important development for Sabah whose administration of justice has long been shaped by the unique coexistence of multiple legal traditions.
He said, for the indigenous communities, the Native Court system is a living legal institution grounded in customary law, Indigenous knowledge and community-based principles that emphasise responsibility, restoration and social harmony.
These laws he said, continue to be sustained through practice, intergenerational transmission and the daily work of Native Court practitioners and customary elders across Sabah.
“Customary laws and adat are also important elements in Sekolah Adat Anak Negeri Sabah. In this context, legal education in Sabah holds a valuable opportunity to be enriched through cooperation with those who practise and steward customary laws.
“Engagement with Native Court institutions, elders, training bodies such as the Institut Latihan Mahkamah Anak Negeri and community practitioners such as the SAANS enables future legal practitioners to develop an informed understanding of Sabah’s legal pluralism as it is applied in everyday contexts, rather than encountered only as abstract theories,” he added.
SAANS has long regarded research, documentation and education as complementary pathways for sustaining Native Customary knowledge across generations.
In this regard, Shalmon wants SAANS to works alongside academic partners such as the Borneo Institute for Indigenous Studies UMS through established collaborative arrangements.
He said, these collaborations provide practical settings in which legal education may engage with customary community governance as it is understood and practised by Anak Negeri communities.
This engagement supports a form of legal training in Sabah that remains attentive to lived experience, institutional practice and the continuing relevance of adat.
He said, this mode of collaboration also aligns closely with Sustainable Development Goal 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions), particularly on inclusive justice systems and institutions that are responsive to local histories, knowledge systems and governance practices.
“Recognising and engaging Indigenous legal traditions as integral to justice contributes directly to these shared international aspirations.”
This approach would position UMS within a small group of institutions internationally where the legal education is shaped by lived legal pluralism rather than treated as a marginal case, he added.
“In this respect, Sabah provides a reference point for serious learning about law, justice, and plurality in practice,” Shalmon pointed out.
