Kuala Lumpur Court Complex

Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad its Moorish style was built in 1897 to house various administrative departments of the British Government at that time and was later converted to house the Supreme and High Courts of Malaya.

I remembered spending an average of 3 days in a week in that building when I started my chambering. How lost was I on my first few weeks. The building itself a mystery and wonder with its underground passages and hidden offices, with narrow staircase hidden behind pillars leading to the Session Court Registry. And most of all, the one person whom all chambering students had to dealt with. He would bark at us, chambees if we were to file our papers wrongly. At the same time, he is the very person who guided us through with those complicated papers. He would tell me what is to be filed, "Yeah, you keep this and frame it up, while you can give this to your mother-in-law!"

Today the courts have shifted to this...

Kuala Lumpur Court Complex

The Courtyard

The Reception

The courtroom

The RM290mil complex houses 30 High Courts, 21 Sessions Courts and 26 Magistrate Courts. Four Courtrooms are designated for the use of television to air court hearings or for child witnesses to give evidence. It has 500 parking bays for the public, 300 for court staff and 200 for judges and magistrates.

The very first thing that came to my mind when I saw the building...

"Finally, there are clean toilets!"

The architecture was very Cyber-ish or Putraya-ish with of course the big dome which is a must and Islamic designs everywhere and around the building. From the old Moonish building to this, its very impressive.

But sadly this building which has yet to be utilised to its full potential has shown flaws of water leakage and limited carparks.

Malaysian can now proudly say that that we have the second largest courthouse in the world. But what does this Court Complex hold for us all as Malaysians? It is a symbol of justice, or so it seems.