| High Court of Malaya/ High Court of Sabah and Sarawak | |
|---|---|
| Mahkamah Tinggi Malaya/ Mahkamah Tinggi Sabah dan Sarawak | |
 | |
| Established | 1957 |
| Composition method | Royal appointment with the advice of the Prime Minister |
| Authorised by | Federal Constitution |
| Appeals to | Court of Appeals of Malaysia |
| Judge term length | Compulsory retirement at age 66 |
| Number of positions | Peninsular Malaysia: 60 (including 16 vacancies) Sabah and Sarawak: 13 (including 5 vacancies) |
| Website | www |
| Chief Judge of the High Court of Malaya | |
| Currently | Hashim Hamzah |
| Since | 3 December 2025 |
| Chief Judge of the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak | |
| Currently | Azizah Nawawi |
| Since | 28 July 2025 |
Thehigh courts inMalaysia are the third-highest courts in the hierarchy ofcourts, after theFederal Court and theCourt of Appeal. Article 121 of theConstitution of Malaysia provides that there shall be two high courts of co-ordinate jurisdiction—theHigh Court in Malaya and theHigh Court in Sabah and Sarawak (before 1994, theHigh Court in Borneo). Before 1969, theHigh Court in Singapore was also part of the Malaysian courts system (seeLaw of Singapore).
The High Court in Malaya has its principal registry inKuala Lumpur, with other registries to be found in all states inPeninsular Malaysia, while the High Court in Sabah and Sarawak has its principal registry in Kuching, with other registries elsewhere in Sabah and Sarawak. There are in total 22 high court registries across all 13 states in Malaysia.[1] The two High Courts also travel oncircuit to other smaller towns.
The two high courts, the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court are classified as superior courts, while the magistrates' courts and the sessions courts are classified as the subordinate courts. The high courts function both as a court oforiginal jurisdiction as well as anappellate court, and are each headed by a chief judge (before 1994, chief justice). The chief judges of Malaya and Sabah and Sarawak are the third and fourth highest positions in Malaysian judiciary after theChief Justice of the Federal Court (before 1994, theLord President of the Supreme Court) and thePresident of the Court of Appeal.[2]
All high court registries and the subordinate courts found inPeninsular Malaysia including the courts in the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya are under the jurisdiction of the High Court in Malaya. Similarly, all courts found inEast Malaysia are under the jurisdiction of the High Court in Sabah and Sarawak including the courts in the Federal Territory of Labuan.
Source:[4]
Some modern texts will refer to them as Chief Judges.[5]
| North Borneo | Sarawak | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office | Justice | Tenure | Office | Justice | Tenure |
| Chief Justice of North Borneo (until 1951) | Charles Frederick Cunningham MacaskieCMG | 1934 to 1941 | Chief Justice of Sarawak (1930-1951) | Thomas Jamieson Laycock Stirling Boyd | 1930 to 1939 |
| H. Thackwell-Lewis | 1939 to 1945 | ||||
| Japanese occupation | 1942 to 1945 | Japanese occupation | 1942 to 1945 | ||
| SirIvor Llewellyn Brace | 1945 to 1951 | Robert Yorke Hedges | 1946 to 1951 | ||
| Sarawak, North Borneo and Brunei | |||||
| Office | Title | Justice | Tenure | ||
| Chief Justice of the Combined Judiciary of Sarawak, North Borneo and Brunei (1951–1963) | Sir | Ivor Llewellyn Brace | 02009-10-01-031 December 1951 –02009-10-01-0324 October 1952 | ||
| Sir | Ernest Hillas WilliamsJP | c. 1957 | |||
| Sir | John AinleyMC | 02009-10-01-035 December 1959 –02009-10-01-031 January 1963 | |||
| Sir | William Campbell WylieQC | 02009-10-01-032 January 1963 –02009-10-01-0315 September 1963 | |||
| Sabah and Sarawak | |||||
| Office | Title | Justice | Tenure | ||
| Chief Justice of Borneo (1963–1994) | Sir | William Campbell WylieQC | 02009-10-01-0316 September 1963 –02009-10-01-0327 August 1965 | ||
| SirTan Sri | Philip Ernest Housden PikeQC | 02009-10-01-0311 September 1965 –02009-10-01-0327 August 1968 | |||
| Tan SriDato' | Ismail Khan Ibrahim Khan | 02009-10-01-032 September 1968 –02009-10-01-0331 December 1973 | |||
| Tan SriDatuk Amar | Lee Hun Hoe | 02009-10-01-031 January 1974 –02009-10-01-0331 December 1988 | |||
| Tan SriDatuk Amar | Mohamad Jemuri Serjan | 02009-10-01-0311 March 1989 –02009-10-01-0323 June 1994 | |||
| Office | Title | Justice | Tenure | ||
| Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak (since 1994) | Tan SriDatuk Amar | Mohamad Jemuri Serjan | 02009-10-01-0324 June 1994 –02009-10-01-039 September 1994 | ||
| Tan SriDatuk Amar | Chong Siew Fai | 02009-10-01-0316 June 1995 –02009-10-01-033 July 2000 | |||
| Tan SriDatuk Amar | Steve Shim Lip Kiong | 02009-10-01-032 July 2000 –02009-10-01-0325 July 2006 | |||
| Tan SriDatuk Seri Panglima | Richard Malanjum | 02009-10-01-0326 July 2006 –02009-10-01-0311 July 2018 | |||
| Tan SriDatuk Seri Panglima | David Wong Dak Wah | 02009-10-01-0311 July 2018 –02009-10-01-0319 February 2020 | |||
| Tan SriDatuk Amar | Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim | 02009-10-01-0325 February 2020 –02009-10-01-0317 January 2023 | |||
| Dato' | Abdul Rahman Sebli | 02009-10-01-0317 January 2023 – 25 July 202502009-10-01-03 | |||
| Azizah Nawawi | 28 July 2025 –Incumbent | ||||
| Office | Title | Justice | Tenure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Justice of Singapore (1963–1969 (as part of Malaysia, 1963–1965)) | Tan Sri | Wee Chong Jin | 1963 to 1969 |
