Izah Azahari
The legal sector must also not lag behind in absorbing current technologies to ensure that the rule of law of Brunei Darussalam is always preserved, said Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Mohd Yussof whose speech was delivered by Permanent Secretary (Security and Law) at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Hajah Nor Hashimah binti Haji Mohammed Taib.
This was shared during the 3rd Legal Seminar yesterday, organised by the PMO in cooperation with the Attorney General’s Chamber. The seminar concludes today.
The speech highlighted His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam’s Titah in conjunction with the 38th National Day addressing the need to accelerate the strengthening of digital transformation as part of economic recovery to ensure that the new norms can be implemented effectively.
It also touched on the seminar’s theme, ‘Law and Technology: Challenges, Opportunities and Way Forward’, in line with His Majesty’s titah, taking into account the current developments and passage of time.
In the era of globalisation and with the existence of borderless instant connectivity, daily life is increasingly absorbed by information technology in all sectors, including the public sector.
It is a necessity for the public service personnel to have a basic understanding of information technology so that they remain equipped to identify and understand current issues, and formulate forward thinking strategies to deal with these emerging issues.
Apart from dealing with the latest issues, the public sector is also expected to be able to take advantage of the emerging technologies to facilitate and speed up public sector tasks and responsibilities.
Attorney General Dato Seri Paduka Haji Ahmad bin Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Bakti Diraja Dato Laila Utama Haji Awang Isa; Acting Permanent Secretary (Energy) at the PMO; Chief Registrar and Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court, Acting Chief Registrar of the Syariah Court of Appeal, President of the Law Society of Brunei Darussalam and senior officers from the Attorney General’s Office and government agencies were also present.
Speakers from the AGC, Law Society Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Darussalam Arbitration Centre and Cyber Security Brunei delivered briefings during the seminar held over the course of two days.
Among the topics presented include the preparation of bills; contract; debt recovery; cybercrime; MoUs, current trends and practices; alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in Brunei Darussalam and an introduction to the Law Society of Brunei Darussalam, specifically from the perspective of law and technology.
The topics are expected to be able to generate thoughts and improve the understanding and knowledge of law in general, regarding law and in particular in relation to the interplay between law and technology.
It is hoped that civil servants participating in the seminar will take advantage of the knowledge presented towards improving knowledge, skills and competence in legal matters in each ministry.
It is also hoped that it will be able to build a skilled and effective public service to support the development of the country based on the principles of Malay Islamic Monarchy (MIB) with the introduction of the concept of a nation of remembrance to maintain the integrity of the public service through a whole-of-government and whole-of-nation approaches to achieve Brunei Vision 2035 and towards the goal of a country ‘Baldatun Thayyibatun Warabbun Ghaafur’.
