BN’s Permatang Pasir choice of candidate : Keeping to its tradition

By Haris Ibrahim,

Lawyers do not get struck of the rolls for getting speeding tickets.

Section 94 (2) of the Legal Profession Act, 1976 provides that any “advocate and solicitor who has been guilty of any misconduct shall be liable to be struck off the Roll…”

“Misconduct” is defined in subsection (3) of section 94 to mean “conduct or omission to act in Malaysia or elsewhere by an advocate and solicitor in a professional capacity or otherwise which amounts to grave impropriety and includes -

(a) conviction of a criminal offence which makes him unfit to be a member of his profession;

(b) breach of duty to a court including any failure by him to comply with an undertaking given to a court;

(c) dishonest or fraudulent conduct in the discharge of his duties;

(d) breach of any rule of practice and etiquette of the profession made by the Bar Council under this Act or otherwise;

(e) being adjudicated a bankrupt and being found guilty of any of the acts or omissions mentioned in paragraph (a), (b), (c), (e), (f), (h), (k) or (l) of section 33(6) of the Bankruptcy Act 1967;

(f) the tendering or giving of any gratification to any person for having procured the employment in any legal business of himself or any other advocate and solicitor;

(g) directly or indirectly procuring or attempting to procure the employment of himself or any other advocate and solicitor through or by the instruction of any person to whom any remuneration for obtaining such employment has been given by him or agreed or promised to be so given;

(h) accepting employment in any legal business through a tout;

(i) allowing any unauthorised person to carry on legal business in his name without his direct and immediate control as principal or without proper supervision;

(j) the carrying on by himself, directly or indirectly, of any profession, trade, business or calling which is incompatible with the legal profession or being employed for reward or otherwise in any such profession, trade, business or calling;

(k) the breach of any provision of this Act or of any rules made thereunder or any direction or ruling of the Bar Council;

(l) the disbarment, striking off, suspension or censure in his capacity as a legal practitioner in any other country or being guilty of conduct which would render him to be punished in any other country;

(m) the charging, in the absence of a written agreement, in respect of professional services rendered to a client, of fees or costs which are grossly excessive in all the circumstances;

(n) gross disregard of his client’s interests; and

(o) being guilty of any conduct which is unbefitting of an advocate and solicitor or which brings or is calculated to bring the legal profession into disrepute.

Malaysiakini reports that BN candidate for the Permatang Pasir by-election Rohaizat Othman, a lawyer, has been blacklisted by the Bar Council.

Actually, there’s no such thing as a Bar Council blaclist.

Not as far as I know, anyway.

I checked with sources in the Bar.

There is a Rohaizat Othman who had been struck of the rolls of the Malaysian Bar.

And this Rohaizat and the BN candidate are one and the same.

Again, lawyers do not get struck off the rolls for getting speeding tickets.