Sabah Law Association secretary Nizam Salleh Keruak said the main purpose of the Tourism Court was to enable criminal and civil cases involving tourists in the state to be speedily heard before the tourists returned home.
“Tourists have a time limit on their stay in Malaysia and therefore, need to get their cases heard quickly.
“A dedicated and assigned judge hears tourism cases on fast-track,” he told FMT.
In comparison, it could take the civil and criminal courts up to nine months to dispose of a case.
Nizam said the tourism and environment courts were established by the High Court of Sabah & Sarawak by Sabah and Sarawak Chief Judge Justice Richard Malanjum in 2015.
Court records show that 10 tourist-related cases were heard in the Tourism Court in Sabah and 12 cases were heard in Sarawak that year.
Bernama reported yesterday that catamaran owner Leong Vin Jee, who is charged with ferrying tourists in unsafe conditions, would be tried in the Tourism Court, after the Magistrate’s Court granted deputy public prosecutor Nartiah F Mirchelle Sambatan’s application to transfer the case.
Leong claimed trial on Feb 4 in the Kota Kinabalu Sessions Court to the charge under Section 282 of the Penal Code of allowing his boat to carry passengers exceeding the 12-passenger capacity stated on the licence.
On Feb 4, the skipper Sharezza Salian was sentenced to six months in jail after he pleaded guilty to the same charge.
On Jan 28, the boat ferrying three crew members and 28 tourists from China had capsized due to strong winds and big waves at around 10am, an hour after it left the Tanjung Aru jetty in Kota Kinabalu for Pulau Mengalum, a tourist attraction 56km northwest of Kota Kinabalu.
Four were killed in the incident and five more are still missing. The rest were rescued and treated at the hospital.