A Servant of Sarawak: Reminiscences of a Crown Counsel in 1950s Borneo

In 1953, Peter Mooney decided to forsake the stately precincts of Parliament House and the Advocates Library in the historic city of Edinburgh and accept the position of Crown Counsel, Sarawak, in far-off Borneo. During his time in Sarawak, Peter faced numerous colourful characters in court, from indigenous warriors sporting feathered headdresses and leopard’s teeth earrings to the equally intimidating David Marshall and Lee Kuan Yew, lawyers who would become, respectively, the first Chief Minister and Prime Minister of Singapore. Peter confronted Iban killers, Soekarno lookalikes and an indignant slave owner demanding compensation for loss of services after Peter successfully prosecuted his slave for murder. In this captivating memoir (with original photographs), Peter Mooney peppers his reminiscences with intriguing legal cases from Sarawak, which serve to illustrate interesting points of law as well as to capture historically important details of Sarawak’s indigenous people and colonial life at the time.