Kuching Residential Market Roars (Newsletter)
From the Desk of Head of Law Firm In recent years Kuching has experienced a sudden surge in property market and has shown no sign of stopping and according to many observers, the general residential property market sentiment in Kuching is that the current prices are at “an-all-time high”. According to a property consultant firm, it is observed that the first decade of the 21st century saw Sarawak’s home prices increasing rapidly and this had surpassed the overall average Malaysia house index. The National Property Information Centre (NAPIC) statistics show that 16,818 units of various residential home types were under construction in Sarawak in the first quarter of 2012. It is observed that some 10,548 or around 63 % of these were in Kuching and Kota Samarahan divisions. It has also been observed in the same period, Kuching and Samarahan divisions also housed 2,498 out of 4,418 units launched, which translates more than 55 %. A property market report by a property firm noted that in Kuching prices of residential properties had increased between 10% – 20% across the board in 2011. Samarahan area is a hot property area at this moment because it houses University Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) as […] read more
When Can Police Officers Arrest Without a Warrant?
What would be your immediate reaction if a police officer approached you with intent to arrest you? Would you not think that officer should be armed with a warrant of arrest to arrest you? Sorry, not in all case a warrant is needed because police officers in certain circumstances can arrest without any warrant. It has to be observed that although there are provisions under the law giving powers to police officers to arrest without a warrant, an arrest without a warrant should not be made a rule and in each and every case, for the power given is only permissive and not obligatory. It is only when obtaining a warrant of arrest from a magistrate would involve unnecessary delay which might defeat the arrest or which would cause unnecessary delay in effecting the arrest that an arrest without warrant can be justified [ Bir Bhodra v. D.M. Azamgarh, 1959 Cr.LJ 685 (All). Thus when the incident took place long before the arrest was made and the person who was to be arrested was a fairly known person, the arrest in such a case without a warrant calls for some explanation and if no explanation is offered, it cannot be […] read more Can Police Take You Back to Police Station Once Bail Been Granted?
Many times we could find our friends and family members after being charged in court and been released on court bail or been released unconditionally being re-arrested by the police or by law enforcement officers outside court for the same offence based on the same facts. This happened to Jones. Some weeks ago, Jones was arrested by the police, produced in court and was charged for wrongfully confining James with intent to extort some property from James before a magistrates’ court. Jones was released on court bail after a date for trial was fixed, but, instead of being allowed to go home, Jones was re-arrested without a warrant of arrest by the police for the same offence of which Jones was charged and was taken to the Criminal Investigation Department for photographing and fingerprinting. Jones spent a few hours in the police station before being allowed to go home. On the day the case was fixed for trial, Jones came before the Magistrate court again and was discharged by the court unconditionally after the prosecution offered no evidence against him on the ground that Jones never committed the offence alleged. Jones’ reputation was tarnished and after consulting his lawyers, Jones […] read more Is Kissing In Public Legal and An Acceptable Norm in Malaysia?
Malaysia is a multicultural country and it is not common to see Malaysians kissing in public but we may at times have some opportunities of seeing newly married couples kissing in the presence of their guests during wedding dinners. Most of the time when they were asked and teased by MCs to kiss and in amorous embrace, these newlywed couples may be seen to be very uncomfortable and shy. They had to do it especially when some of their guests insisted that they have to do it. What normally would be our reaction to such act then? Annoyed? Embarrassed? What is the position of the law in Malaysia? In a recent case, Ooi Kean Thong and Siow Ai Wei who were students were caught by the authorities when they were locked in an amorous embrace in a park beside the famous landmark, the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur. They were charged with disorderly behavior in public. The case went to the Federal Court of Malaysia. The Chief Justice, Tun Ahmad Fairuz commented that: “In England, those acts are acceptable to the people of that country, but, is kissing and hugging acceptable to Malaysian citizens? The federal court rejected a […] read more Should we abolish death penalty?
Many countries in the world have abolished the death penalty, but, why Malaysia still cling on to death penalty as a form of punishment when many other countries had done away with it? We have several offences in statutes that provided for death penalty in Malaysia which include, murder and waging war against the King under the Penal Code, kidnapping for ransom under section 3 of the Kidnapping Act 1960 and trafficking dangerous drugs under 39B of the Dangerous Drugs 1952. Upon being found guilty, most death penalties are mandatory and the trial Judge has no discretion at all when come to sentencing to consider other range of possible sentences such as imprisonment in accordance with the circumstances of each and individual case. The sentence of death has been fixed by Parliament. It has been argued before the court that the death penalty is unconstitutional as it takes away the discretionary power of the Judges when passing sentences. No amount of mitigation put forward and sympathy from judges could this be changed. In handling criminal cases, the worst fear is that judges may hang an innocent person accused who never committed the crime charged. The famous case of Karthigesu some […] read more What Risks You Face If You Sell Off Your Car When You Could Not Carry On Payments of Installments?
Here is the story… James faced financial problem and could not continue the repayment of the installments of his car. In order to avoid his car from being repossessed and be auctioned off cheaply by the finance company, James, then sold his car to John cheaply with a condition that John has to continue the repayment of the remaining installments to the finance company. John was very pleased to have the car because it was a good new car, yet, been sold cheaply by James to him. Relevant transfer forms were pre-signed by both James and John and the transfer could not be effected pending repayments of all installments due to the finance company. Three months later on, John defaulted and did not continue paying on behalf of James the remaining installments to the finance company. The finance company then issued a demand letter to James to pay the installments due to the company. This then was also followed by a notice to repossess the car by the finance company to James. John could not be traced and the car was also gone with him. James was very desperate as James also could not pay. Further, James also thought that […] read more 