By Fahri Azzat

The call to the Bar is one of the most momentous occasions of a lawyer’s life. For it is on that day that he or she is registered on the Rolls of the High Court and has an ‘exclusive right to appear and plead in all Courts of Justice in Malaysia according to the law in force in those Courts’: see section 35 of the Legal Profession Act, 1976 (’the Act’). Anybody who appears in court to represent a client would be an ‘unauthorised person’ under the Act: see section 37 of the Act. The manner in which the call to the Bar is to be carried out is not provided for in the Act.

The tradition as I understand it here is that after a chambering pupil has completed his chambering period of 9 months, he will then file his long call papers to be admitted to the Bar. He then has to obtain a Mover to move his petition on the hearing date. Though it is not provided for anywhere, the practise is that it is the Master’s responsibility to procure a suitable ‘Mover’ for the chambering pupil. I think this is an excellent convention and would go further and say that it is the duty of the Master to find the Mover. This would also promote better camaraderie and relations at the Bar too.

A Mover is someone who would ‘move’ the chambering pupil’s petition before the presiding High Court Judge on the day of his call. Who qualifies as a Mover? This again is not provided for anywhere. The practise here is that it has to be someone ’senior’ and I agree with it. One does not send a junior for such a momentous and important occasion just as one would only want to send the best lawyers for an important matter. How senior does the Mover have to be? I would argue that he must have completed 7 years in active practise. This is because it is only after 7 years can one take a chambering pupil: see section 13(1) of the Act. If one is senior enough to take a chambering pupil, it follows that one should be senior enough to move another chambering pupil’s petition. The Bar Council also appears to endorse such a position.

One may ask, why doesn’t the Master himself move the chambering pupil’s call? The reason is simply to avoid a conflict of interest. After all, the chambering pupil is tutored by the Master. What is more the Master also affirms a supporting affidavit for the chambering pupil’s petition, so he would not be ‘objective’ and has a stake in the success of the petition (although it is wholly about reputation and not pecuniary). One may argue that it is usually an uncontentious matter, so one need not be too technical about these things. However, there is nothing technical about propriety or ethics which should not be waived for the sake of convenience. Furthermore, it could turn into a contentious matter if either the Bar Council, Attorney General Chambers or the State Bar Committee representatives raise an objection.

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Following the hot issue of complaint by UUM law graduates recently, the result of Certificate in Legal Practice (CLP) exam this year is released yesterday.

The CLP exam’s director, K. Muniandy told the local newspaper, The Star that CLP exam candidates “are judged solely on their knowledge and merit and not on any quota system”, he further said that the “paper setters and markers did not know the candidates’ names as only their index numbers appeared on the answer scripts.”

He emphasised that there is no racial quota imposed on the exam system. Most students failed were because they did not answer the question in a practical manner, sometimes they just regurgitated the information that they memorised or were giving answer which were totally not related to the legal issues.

Muniandy also said that he has reduced the risk of leakage of exam questions by minimising the staffs involved in preparing the exam papers.

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Part A. Brief description

Malaysia’s pupilage system is slightly unique compared to other jurisdictions as the law students entering pupilage do not undergo some form of common graduate course. New pupils can be divided into 3 main groups: those that graduated with a local 4-year law degree, students who went through the CLP and finally students who have been called to the English Bar.

Therefore, the pupilage period is the only common period where you can ensure that a law graduate is sufficiently trained with a core set of skills necessary for them to be an advocate and solicitor. Pupilage is the last link in the chain prior to admission and hence it takes a particularly important role in ensuring that pupils are equipped with core set of skills to prepare them for legal practice.

Therefore, the pupilage period is the only common period where you can ensure that a law graduate is sufficiently trained with a core set of skills necessary for them to be an advocate and solicitor.

Part B. Strengths of the Present System

There are 2 aspects of pupilage that does ensure pupils are being trained: firstly, the ethics programme and secondly, I would argue, the fact that every pupil has to complete legal aid.

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