Malaysian Bar - BN government seeking to weaken the Bar by proposed amendments?

Well, the Malaysian Bar seems to be the new target of the Barisan Nasional government, currently under the premiership of Najib Tun Razak... the Malaysian Bar, made up of all the lawyers practicing in Peninsular Malaysia, which is about 17,000 strong... who, I am proud to say, have been true to the object of upholding the cause of justice without fear and favour...

Well, the 'attack' on the independent Malaysian Bar started when 3 movers of a Motion at the last Malaysian Bar was called in for investigation under the Sedition Act, together with a Secretary of the Malaysian Bar...see earlier posts, one of which is Undeterred by sedition probe, lawyers vow to fight on (Malay Mail)

Note that what was investigated was an official letter send out by the Malaysian Bar containing all motions tabled by members that would be deliberated at the upcoming Annual General Meeting of the Malaysian Bar. Subsequent, to the Bukit Aman interview, things was silent -  and it looks like there was no interest to pursue any further with regards to the alleged Sedition offence...BUT now, the attack seem to be coming in the form of a PROPOSAL to amend the Legal Profession Act...

For your information, for a long time the Malaysian Bar was prejudiced by the fact that its quorum for an Annual General Meeting was amended by virtue of an amendment that came into effect on 2/10/2006 which reduced it to a reasonable 500. [If not wrong, the previous required quorum was 20% or 25% of the total membership]. In comparison, the quorum for any other society was usually 2 times the number of the executive committee or 50% of the total membership....

Now, for the members of the Bar Council currently - 12 members are elected through postal ballot, where all members can vote...

From the State Bars, there will be 2 - the President and Bar Council Representative who will be elected at the State Bar AGMs...

The immediate past President and Vice-President will be a member of the Bar Council 

Section 47(2) LPA - The Bar Council shall consist of the following -

(a) the immediate past President and Vice-President of the Malaysian Bar;
(b) the chairman of each State Bar Committee and the members elected to represent each State Bar Committee pursuant to subsection 70(7);
(c) members elected pursuant to section 50.[12 by postal ballot]

From amongst the Bar Council members, the chose the President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasure - now all decision making of the Bar Council is made by the entire Bar Council, and the term of office is ONE(1) year. 

Now in the Malaysian Bar, the President can hold office for just 2 consecutive terms - and, so no President is President of the Malaysian Bar for more than 2 years consecutively...

Now, history will show that Presidents and Office Bearers of the Malaysian Bar can come from the any of the member of the Bar Council - be it someone who came it by way of postal ballot or through State Bar AGMs. Our current Attorney General, was, I believe, once an Office Bearer of the Bar Council.

The Malaysian Bar is also very strong on the issue of equality - so number of years of practice does not matter. Seniority does not matter - members decide on who they want to be in the Bar Council. 

Well, it comes to amendments to the Legal Profession Act - it must and shall be as what the members of the Bar wants - not by a government who wants to control...to maybe pacify the Bar...maybe even to transform it into a pro-government Malaysian Bar - no more willing the uphold the cause of justice without fear or favour?

Now, this government seem like they want to try yet again take away the independence of the Malaysian Bar.. WHY? Will we allow the government to do this? The last time the government tried to do this....looks stood strong in solidarity against such moves... and the people stood in support with Malaysian lawyers...protesting such attempts to 'control'...and yet again, we face a new attempt by this BN government...

Putrajaya seeks to curb Malaysian Bar with government appointees

BY BOO SU-LYN

Friday May 27, 2016
03:30 PM GMT+8

KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — Putrajaya appears to be aiming to control the Malaysian Bar by seeking significant amendments to the Legal Profession Act 1976, including having a minister appoint two members of the Bar Council to represent the government.

A circular to members of the peninsular legal body by Malaysian Bar president Steven Thiru said the proposed amendments scheduled to be tabled in the next parliamentary meeting in October also includes hiking up the quorum requirement for the Malaysian Bar’s general meetings from 500 members to 25 per cent of the membership, or 4,000 members.

The Malaysian Bar currently has 17,000 members.

“The Bar Council has neither sought these proposed amendments, nor has there been any resolution by members of the Malaysian Bar for these amendments,” Steven said in the circular dated today sighted by Malay Mail Online.

“In its wide sweep, the proposed amendments pose a serious threat to the independence of the Malaysian Bar, and are an unwarranted interference into the self-regulation and internal management of the Malaysian Bar.

“There is presently no cogent or justifiable basis for these proposed amendments, and its underlying objective is unclear. It has been observed that ‘[t]he independence of the Bar from the state in all of its pervasive manifestations is one of the hallmarks of a free society’,” he added.

The proposed amendments to the Legal Profession Act come even as the Bar Council has openly criticised various government policies and legislation for violating human rights, including the Sedition Act 1948.

The Malaysian Bar also approved a motion at its AGM last March that called on Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali to step down as Attorney-General over his handling of cases involving state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) that is under several international investigations around the world.

According to Steven, the proposed amendments include having the minister in charge of legal affairs appoint two members of the Bar Council, the decision-making body of the Malaysian Bar, to represent the government. But these two members will not be eligible to contest any office bearer position, namely the president, vice-president, secretary or treasurer.

The government is also seeking to abolish the annual election by postal ballot — currently for 12 members of the Bar Council — by Malaysian Bar members, and will instead have the Bar Council elected at the state Bar level once every two years.

“Three members from each State Bar — the Chairmen of the State Bar Committees, and two State Bar Representatives — would be elected directly to the Bar Council by secret ballot at the State Bar’s Annual General Meeting. One of the State Bar Representatives must be a member with more than 10 years in practice, and the other must have less than 10 years in practice. 

“As there are 12 State Bars, this process would result in the election of 12 State Bar Committee Chairmen and 24 State Bar Representatives as members of the Bar Council, totalling 36 members,” said Steven.

“The remaining four members of the Bar Council would consist of the immediate past President and immediate past Vice-President of the Bar, and the two members of the Bar appointed by the minister in charge of legal affairs to represent the government,” he added.

The government is also proposing to increase the size of the Bar Council from 38 to 40 members.

Malay Mail Online understands that the abolition of elections via postal ballot would mean that outspoken members of the Bar Council like Hendon Mohamed, Andrew Khoo, Edmund Bon, Ravi Nekoo, Roger Chan, Honey Tan and Richard Wee, all of whom are from the KL Bar, would have to vie for one position as KL Bar representative of more than 10 years’ seniority, when they were elected previously through the postal ballot.

Besides increasing the quorum requirement for the Malaysian Bar’s annual or extraordinary general meetings, the proposed amendments to the Legal Profession Act also include raising the quorum requirement for each State Bar from five to 25 per cent of its membership.

Putrajaya is seeking to abolish the annual election of the office bearers of the Malaysian Bar — conducted by secret ballot at the first Bar Council meeting of each term, held at the conclusion of the Bar’s AGM — by members of the Bar Council.

“Instead, the office bearers would be elected directly by members of the Bar, at the Annual General Meeting of the Bar or at the premises of the State Bar Committees. 

“Only the 24 members elected as State Bar Representatives at the annual general meetings of the State Bars are eligible to be elected as office bearers. The immediate past president, immediate past vice-president, and 12 chairmen of the State Bar Committees are expressly precluded from contesting any office bearer position,” said Steven.

The proposed amendments include having the Malaysian Bar’s office bearers and Bar Council members serve for a fixed term of two years, instead of the current one-year term.

The minister in charge of legal affairs will also be empowered to make rules and regulations on the conduct of the elections to the Bar Council and of the office bearers of the Bar.

“The Bar Council has expressed grave reservations to the proposed amendments.  We have submitted a preliminary memorandum to the Attorney General’s Chambers, setting out our concerns. We have also informed the Attorney General’s Chambers that we intend to consult Members of the Bar, and to submit a further memorandum,” said Steven. 

Malay Mail, 27/5/2016  - See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/putrajaya-seeks-to-curb-malaysian-bar-with-government-appointees?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook#sthash.h4AKsLIS.E5x6JVpJ.dpuf

 

Proposal to Amend the Legal Profession Act 1976 is a Severe Threat to the Independence of the Malaysian Bar 

Circular No 127/2016

Dated 27 May 2016

To Members of the Malaysian Bar

The Bar Council has been notified by the Attorney General’s Chambers that the Government intends to pursue drastic amendments to the Legal Profession Act 1976 (“LPA”).  The proposed amendments are scheduled to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat during the next Parliamentary session from 17 October to 24 November 2016. 

We understand that the key features of the proposed amendments are as follows:

(1) Two Members of the Bar would be appointed — by the Minister in charge of legal affairs — as members of the Bar Council, for the purpose of representing the Government.  However, these two members would not be eligible to contest any position as Office Bearer of the Malaysian Bar (ie President, Vice-President, Secretary or Treasurer).

(2) The quorum requirement for general meetings (ie Annual General Meeting and any Extraordinary General Meeting) of the Malaysian Bar would be increased from 500 Members to 25% of the membership of the Malaysian Bar or 4,000 Members, whichever is less.  There are currently just under 17,000 Members of the Bar.

The quorum requirement for general meetings of each State Bar would also be increased, from 5% to 25% of its membership.

(3) The number of members of the Bar Council would be increased from the current 38 members, to 40 members.

(4) Annual election of Bar Council

(a) The annual election by postal ballot — currently for 12 members of the Bar Council — by Members of the Malaysian Bar would be abolished.  

(b) Instead, the election would be conducted at the State Bar level once every two years.

Three members from each State Bar — the Chairmen of the State Bar Committees, and two State Bar Representatives — would be elected directly to the Bar Council by secret ballot at the State Bar’s Annual General Meeting.  One of the State Bar Representatives must be a member with more than 10 years in practice, and the other must have less than 10 years in practice.  As there are 12 State Bars, this process would result in the election of 12 State Bar Committee Chairmen and 24 State Bar Representatives as members of the Bar Council, totalling 36 members.   

The remaining four members of the Bar Council would consist of the immediate past President and immediate past Vice-President of the Bar, and the two Members of the Bar appointed by the Minister in charge of legal affairs to represent the Government.

(5) Election of Officer Bearers

(a) The annual election of the Officer Bearers of the Malaysian Bar — conducted by secret ballot at the first Bar Council meeting of each term, held at the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting of the Bar — by members of the Bar Council would be abolished. 

(b) Instead, the Office Bearers would be elected directly by Members of the Bar, at the Annual General Meeting of the Bar or at the premises of the State Bar Committees.  

Only the 24 members elected as State Bar Representatives at the annual general meetings of the State Bars are eligible to be elected as Office Bearers.  The immediate past President, immediate past Vice-President, and 12 Chairmen of the State Bar Committees are expressly precluded from contesting any Office Bearer position.

(6) The Office Bearers of the Bar and the members of the Bar Council would serve for a fixed term of two years, instead of the current one-year term.

(7) The Minister in charge of legal affairs would be empowered to make rules and regulations in respect of the conduct of the elections to the Bar Council and of the Office Bearers of the Bar.

The Bar Council has neither sought these proposed amendments, nor has there been any resolution by Members of the Malaysian Bar for these amendments.

In its wide sweep, the proposed amendments pose a serious threat to the independence of the Malaysian Bar, and are an unwarranted interference into the self-regulation and internal management of the Malaysian Bar. There is presently no cogent or justifiable basis for these proposed amendments, and its underlying objective is unclear.  It has been observed that “[t]he independence of the Bar from the state in all of its pervasive manifestations is one of the hallmarks of a free society.” [1]

The Bar Council has expressed grave reservations to the proposed amendments.  We have submitted a preliminary memorandum to the Attorney General’s Chambers, setting out our concerns.  We have also informed the Attorney General’s Chambers that we intend to consult Members of the Bar, and to submit a further memorandum.  

In this regard, we have begun consulting the State Bar Committees and the members of State Bars on the proposed amendments.  The first consultative briefing was conducted in Malacca on 26 May 2016, and the next one will be conducted in Kelantan on 29 May 2016.   

The Bar Council is also formulating a broad-based plan of action to address the proposed amendments. We will notify Members as and when there are developments. 

Thank you. 

Steven Thiru

President

Malaysian Bar

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[1] Canada (Attorney General) v Law Society of British Columbia [1982] 2 SCR 307 at 335, 137 DLR (3d).