[1] Its establishment also marked the introduction of a modern legal system in Malaya, which would evolve to become the current judiciary of Malaysia.

Malaysia's first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, was also admitted into the Bar in 1974 within the compound of the Penang High Court.

[6] The present Palladian-style courthouse, designed by John Henry McCallum, the Surveyor-General of the Straits Settlements, was inaugurated in 1903.

[1] The first pair of Malayan-born siblings to be called into the Bar were Mr. Lim Khye Seng and Mrs. B. H. Oon, both of whom practised law in the Penang High Court.

In 1974, Tunku Abdul Rahman, who had been the first Malaysian Prime Minister until 1970, was also called into the Bar at the Penang High Court.

[8] Additional courthouses were also built across Light Street; these now house the Magistrates and Sessions Court for the Northeast Penang Island District.