Politics of Brunei - Judicial Branch

Judicial Branch

Brunei has a dual legal system. The first is the system inherited from the British, similar to the ones found in India, Malaysia and Singapore. It is based on the English Common Law, but with codification of a significant part of it. The Common Law legal system covers most of the laws in Brunei.

The structure of the Common Law Courts in Brunei starts with the Magistracy. There are currently less than 10 Magistrates for the country, all of whom are locals. A rung above the Magistracy is the Intermediate Courts. This was set up to be a training ground for the local. There are currently 2 Intermediate Court judges, both are locals.

The High Court currently consist of 3 Judges, 2 of whom are locals. The Chief Justice was a High Court judge from Hong Kong.

There is no jury system in Brunei and a Judge or Magistrate sits alone to hear a case except for capital punishment cases where 2 High Court Judges will sit.

The Court of Appeal consists of 3 Judges, all of whom are currently retired British Judges. The Court of Appeal sits twice a year for about a month each time.

Appeals to the Privy Council in criminal cases are no longer available, whilst still retaining a very limited right of appeal to the Privy Council in civil cases.

The other system of Justice in Brunei is the Shariah Courts. It deals mainly in Muslim divorce and matters ancillary to a Muslim divorce in its civil jurisdiction and in the offenses of khalwat (close proximity) and zina (illicit sex) amongst Muslims.

The Syariah Court structure is similar to the Common Law Court structure except that it has no intermediate court and that the Court of Appeal is the final court of appeal.

All magistrates and judges both in the Common Law Courts and the Shariah Courts are appointed by the Government. All local magistrates and judges were appointed from the civil service with none thus far being appointed from the private practice.