Move to set up law academy to check Bar Council's monopoly

The Sun 
by Hemananthani Sivanandam and Pauline Wong

PUTRAJAYA (May 15, 2012): The government will look into reviving the Malaysian Academy of Law Bill, which was dropped in 2002, as part of its plan to create an alternative to the Malaysian Bar.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz told theSun he will discuss with Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail and raise the matter in the cabinet soon.

The bill, first tabled in 2002 to provide for the setting up of a legal academy with functions overlapping that of the Bar Council, was subsequently dropped "out of respect for the Bar".

However, Nazri who is de facto law minister said today that the bill will be revisited, albeit with some improvements.

"It (the Bar) is very partisan in its accusations, and I do not think it should be given the monopoly (to represent the legal community)," Nazri had said on Monday, when commenting on the Bar Council's extraordinary general meeting (EGM) last Friday where a resolution condemning the use of excessive force by the police during the Bersih 3.0 rally on April 28 was passed.

Several lawyers had subsequently also attacked the Bar Council, accusing it of being a tool for the Opposition.

Nazri had earlier claimed that the Malaysian Bar does not represent the majority voice of the lawyers, as even the election of the Bar Council was monopolised by a small group.

He said in view of frustrations voiced by disgruntled lawyers with the Bar Council, the government was looking into forming an alternate body to represent the profession, welfare and legal interests of lawyers.

In a statement yesterday, Bar Council president Lim Chee Wee said the Malaysian Bar was flabbergasted by Nazri's suggestion last Sunday that the Bar dissolve itself for bringing shame to the profession .

He said Nazri's announcement on the proposed law academy appears to have come purely as a reaction to the Bar's strong message in its final report on Bersih 3.0 and the resolution adopted at the Bar EGM.

"The announcement lends itself to the perception that the proposal is revived from time to time when the government feels threatened by

an independent Bar that does not countenance the abuse of power by the institutions of the state, the police in this case, and speaks up in defence of the public at large," Lim said.

Lim said the proposal to set up a law academy as an alternative to the Malaysian Bar is "fundamentally flawed" as under the LPA, only the Bar Council is empowered to set standards for the legal profession, issue practising certificates, and regulate members of the Bar.

"The creation of any "alternative" institution empowered to control the conduct of the legal profession would usurp the functions and powers of the Bar Council under the act, ignore its powers and duty to regulate its own affairs, and would be an intolerable assault on the independence of the Malaysian Bar," he said.

"The Malaysian Bar is opposed to this suggestion, which appears similar to the proposal that the government had mooted, and subsequently withdrawn, twice in the past," he said.

Lim said the Bar welcomes any move to encourage legal excellence and promote academic standards, but it cannot be dissolved because it is established under the Legal Profession Act 1976 (LPA).

"We urge the government not to attack the messenger, but to act on the message contained in the Bar's final report and the EGM resolution instead," he added.