JUDGMENT

Gopal Sri Ram JCA:

The judgment against which this appeal has been preferred is reported in the law reports. See Adong bin Kuwau & Ors v. Kerajaan Negeri Johor [1997] 1 MLJ 418. In it the learned trial judge has admirably dealt with the factual background, the issues before him and the applicable law. We therefore find it unnecessary to go into these in any detail.

In a gist, the learned judge held that the respondents (plaintiffs in the court below) being the aboriginal people of this country are seised of common law rights over land and are entitled, by reason of art. 13(1) of the Federal Constitution, to receive fair and reasonable compensation when such rights are deprived by state action. Dato' Zainal Adzam, the learned State Legal Adviser who appeared in support of the appeal (but not in the court below) informed us that the appellants did not quarrel with this proposition. His complaint is that the learned judge was wrong in holding that there existed any such rights as aforesaid. According to the learned State Legal Adviser, the respondents' rights and the manner of their enforcement are exclusively governed by the Aboriginal Peoples Act 1954 (the Act) . Consequen