PUTRAJAYA: The suggestion to set up a special court to deal with environment matters was met with cautious optimism by non-governmental organisations.
Traffic, an international organisation that monitors wildlife trade, said while the call made by Chief Justice Tan Sri Ariffin Zakaria was a good one, prosecutors in the Attorney- General's Chambers and legal advisers of government departments needed to have a better understanding for the court to have an impact.
Traffic is a joint programme of the World Wide Fund for Nature and the World Conservation Union.
"They should have a much better understanding of wildlife crime and a better grasp of wildlife laws," its senior communications officer Elizabeth John said when contacted yesterday.
Malaysian Nature Society was also pleased that the chief justice had identified environmental issues as an important matter that needed special consideration.
Its head of communications, Andrew Sebastian, said the organisation had always been puzzled as to why offenders were not handed down the maximum punishment in many cases.
"Whether a new specialised court is the answer remains to be seen. We hope the different agencies will discuss this idea further."
Selangor Forestry Department assistant director (operations and enforcement) Mohd Yussainy Md Yusop said while the idea for a specialised court was a good one, state and federal laws needed to be synchronised so that tackling environmental crimes could be a priority.
Yussainy, who has been fighting against mangrove wood smugglers in the state, explained that jurisdiction between environment-related matters, such as land laws and wildlife laws, were divided between federal and state authorities.
On Saturday, Ariffin proposed the setting up of an environment court to handle such cases and increase the awareness of nature's importance.
He said a court dedicated to handling environment matters was important as 60 per cent of the country was forested.
Join NST's Facebook Community!
