{
  "id": 11184202,
  "title": "Federal Court sets Jan 25-29 to hear Petronas, Sarawak govt’s petitions",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/01/federal-court-sets-jan-25-29-to-hear-petronas-sarawak-govts-petitions",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-01T11:05:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today-freemalays",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2026/10/01/federal-court-sets-jan-25-29-to-hear-petronas-sarawak-govt-s-petitions"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Federal Court has scheduled its hearings for January 25-29 to address petitions from both Petronas and the Sarawak government. These legal challenges concern the laws governing oil and gas matters within the region. Justice Rhodzariah Bujang announced that the court will hear the cases in the order they were filed, reserving the decision on which petition to address first to the panel of judges. The two petitions are not consolidated, providing the panel with an optimal opportunity to determine the order of proceedings. Both parties were directed to submit their arguments on the petitions and preliminary issues by January 11, with reply submissions due by January 18, and case management scheduled for January 12. Petronas and the Sarawak government requested the Federal Court to assign an enlarged panel of nine or 11 judges to hear their cases. Both entities initially intended to have their respective petitions heard separately, with Petronas seeking to have its petition heard first, followed by the sequence of the filed petitions. Conversely, the Sarawak government contends that its petition should be prioritized. Petronas submitted its petition on January 10 and received leave from the court under Article 4(4) of the Federal Constitution on March 16. The Sarawak government's petition was filed on February 23. During the proceedings, Adzrul Adzlan, representing the Sarawak government, suggested that the panel should first address the preliminary issue concerning the OIC, which deals with the boundaries of Sarawak's territorial waters. Meanwhile, Cyrus Das, representing Petronas, argued that determining the legal status of the OIC as a preliminary issue was not justified, asserting that it could be addressed during the petition hearing. Ahmad Hanir Hambaly @ Arwi, a senior federal counsel, supported Petronas' counsel, emphasizing that Petronas' petition should be heard first. On March 16, the Federal Court granted Petronas the authorization to challenge the Sarawak legislature's competence to enact certain laws, questioning their constitutional validity. The Sarawak government, along with Petronas, is seeking a declaration that several federal Acts, including the Petroleum Development Act 1974, the Continental Shelf Act 1966, and the Petroleum Mining Act 1966, are unconstitutional and void in relation to Sarawak.",
  "summary": "Their respective petitions challenging state and federal laws governing oil and gas matters, will be heard in the order they were filed.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Mahkamah Persekutuan tetap 25-29 Jan dengar petisyen Petronas, Sarawak",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/01/mahkamah-persekutuan-tetap-25-29-jan-dengar-petisyen-petronas-sarawak",
        "published": "2026-10-01T10:53:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "New Straits Times",
        "title": "Federal Court sets five-day hearing for Petronas, Sarawak oil and gas petitions beginning Jan 25",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/01/federal-court-sets-five-day-hearing-for-petronas-sarawak-oil-and-gas",
        "published": "2026-10-01T12:12:38.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}