Law Is Not Justice – A Last-Minute Postponement Proves the Point

 

The Distinction We Forget

In the pursuit of fairness, we too often blur the line between law and justice. They are not the same.

Justice is abstract — an ideal, a moral compass, an aspiration for what is truly fair, equitable, and right. It lives in the realm of principles and conscience.

 

Law is concrete — rules, procedures, forms, fees, and institutions that operate in the real world. Law is a tool designed (ideally) to move us closer to justice. But the tool is not the destination.

 

Never fall in love with the law. It is a jealous mistress, demanding endless fees, forms, and delays while delivering little in return. True seekers of justice must use the law without being enslaved by it.

 

Recent Events: A Postponement That Speaks Volumes

This distinction became painfully clear with the latest postponement of a hearing in Kuala Lumpur — shifted from May 2026 to May 2027. The plaintiff was informed at the very last minute, already en route to court at 8:42 a.m. The reason? The defendant’s lawyer had fallen and injured his hand.

 

One person’s accident resulted in a full year’s delay for the other party. All documents — witness statements and submissions from both sides — had already been filed. Could the hearing not have proceeded with another lawyer from the same firm? Yet the matter was adjourned for a year.

 

Adding insult to injury: an interpreter had been appointed for one of the plaintiffs at an agreed fee of RM700. The plaintiff was never given the interpreter’s contact details, and the interpreter was not informed of the postponement by the plaintiff's lawyer. Later, the plaintiff’s lawyer requested RM600 be banked into the interpreter’s account — even though no service was rendered.

 

Why should the plaintiff bear this cost for a service never performed? These are the real burdens ordinary citizens face when navigating the machinery of law.

 

Previous Happenings: Bureaucracy Over Substance

Since filing complaints with the Sabah Advocates Disciplinary Board (SADB) in 2019, the pattern has been consistent:

 

“Fill the form. Pay RM100. Submit in quadruplicate.”

 

Little visible progress on core issues — lawyers allegedly taking instructions from a bankrupt, misrepresentation of authority, fabricated documents in property matters.

 

The law (as fact) is followed to the letter. But justice (as ideal) feels perpetually postponed.

 

As a B40 SARA recipient in Sabah, relying on modest rental income, family support, and RM100 monthly aid, these repeated delays, unexpected costs, and poor communication add significant hardship. Waivers exist in theory, but requests often go unanswered. A bankrupt may instruct lawyers, yet an ordinary citizen struggles just to be heard.

 

This is not discipline through law; it is bureaucracy shielding the system from accountability.

 

Broader Systemic Issues

Deceased “vendors” named in Sale & Purchase Agreements — despite contract law requiring capacity to contract.

 

Committee members signing decisions on inquiries they never attended.

 

Institutions ignoring communications, police redirecting complaints, high-level meetings postponed indefinitely.

 

Under the spirit of MA63, Sabah seeks genuine autonomy and self-governance. But autonomy without accountability risks becoming impunity. When the machinery of law becomes an end in itself, justice slips further away. Orwell’s warning in Animal Farm rings true: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

 

A Call for Balance

We must remember: justice is abstract, law is fact. The law should be a bridge toward justice, not a wall that burdens the vulnerable with wasted costs, last-minute chaos, and unrendered services.

 

Reform must include:

 

·        Automatic fee waivers for B40 individuals

 

·        Digital submissions and better communication protocols to reduce costs and delays

 

·        Strict timelines and contingency plans for adjournments, with clear rules on who bears costs for cancelled services like interpreters, and provisions for hearings to proceed with alternative counsel

 

·        Investigations that prioritize substance over procedural perfection

 

This is not an attack on the legal profession — many serve ethically and honorably. It is a call for the machinery of law to better align with the ideal of justice, especially for ordinary Malaysians who cannot afford another year of waiting, uncertainty, and unnecessary expenses.

 

Law is fact. Justice is ideal. The challenge before us is to ensure the fact serves the ideal — not the other way around.