Recognise South Asian law schools, says ex-judge

Retired judge Gopal Sri Ram says law books used in Malaysia are written by Indian authors.

PETALING JAYA: A retired judge has suggested that the Legal Profession Qualifying Board recognise some of the universities in South Asian countries which have law courses that are of proven qualilty.

Gopal Sri Ram said many of Malaysia’s important laws were reproductions of the statutes of India.

Malaysia also shared with India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka a common law system inherited from Britain, the colonial power at the time.

Sri Ram, a retired Federal Court judge, said: “The leading textbooks on the law of contract, evidence, criminal procedure, penal law, civil procedure and constitutional law were all written by Indian authors.”

He referred to the leading textbook on evidence by Sarkar and on criminal procedure by Sohoni as examples of books used in Malaysia.

“I find it strange that in our courts, we cite Indian texts and Indian cases as leading authorities and yet we don’t recognise the schools from which the authors of all this material come from,” he said.

He said though the cost of education is very low in these countries, it is also very difficult to get into some of the renowned law schools because of the prestigious nature of their degrees.

He cited the Lahore Law College in Pakistan as one such institution.

Sri Ram said it is well known that law firms in the United Kingdom and United States recruited graduates from the leading Indian law schools.

Based on some experience with graduates of local universities, he said that except for a few who would have done well in any UK or US university, the majority were clueless.

“This is not about the poor students but speaks volumes about their teachers,” he said.

Recognition of some universities from the sub-continent would allow the public to get what they were entitled to from a lawyer.

Sri Ram was responding to a statement by board chairman Idrus Harun that it exercised caution in recognising law degrees from public and private universities as all “qualified persons” must have the required knowledge and skill.

Idrus, who is also the attorney-general, made the statement in reaction to a query by Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan on why the board had yet to recognise the law degree from Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia.

Mohamad, who professed to be a former USIM mentor, said a delay in recognising the degree meant that many USIM law graduates could not practise in Malaysian courts.

The board has over the last few years allowed an exemption to students of seven local public and private universities with law degree courses. They do not need to sit for the Certificate in Law Practice (CLP) examination after reviewing their law programmes.

They include Universiti Utara Malaysia in Kedah, Multimedia University in Melaka and Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin in Terengganu.

Former Malaysian Bar president Ragunath Kesavan called for a common bar examination to be conducted, irrespective of whether students graduated from recognised local or foreign law schools.

“The fourth year could be converted as a bar examination for the locals as it may be expensive if they were allowed to do it separately,” he said.

Ragunath said students who graduated from overseas universities could also sit for the exam, adding it may also include practical training before seeking admission to the Bar.

Currently, graduates from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and from law schools in the United Kingdom, who have been admitted to the English Bar, need not do the CLP.

Others, including those who graduate from Australia and New Zealand must pass the CLP and complete their nine-month pupilage as a prerequisite to practice law in Malaysia. - FMT