Bar Council out of touch with members, say lawyers

Three lawyers tell FMT that the record low turnout for the Bar Council elections was a result of a disconnect between members and the Bar, and the use of a postal voting system.

Only 15% of the 25,338 ballot papers issued in the Bar Council elections for the 2026-2027 term were returned, the lowest in the last five years.

PETALING JAYA:

 The growing disconnect among lawyers with the Bar Council, coupled with the continued usage of a postal voting system, led to the record low turnout in the recent Bar election for the 2026-2027 term, say lawyers.

Rajsurian Pillai, Goh Cia Yee and Vince Tan told FMT that many lawyers feel increasingly disconnected from the Bar’s work and are unsure their participation will lead to significant changes in their work culture.

Rajsurian said that many members feel that Bar Council elections do not lead to tangible changes in practice conditions, court delays or regulatory burdens.

He said the council’s limited engagement with members also discourages them from feeling personally invested.

“Members are more likely to vote when they feel valued, heard and supported. When engagement occurs only over administrative matters, members feel no personal stake in the leadership,” he said.

Guarding the status quo

Tan said bread-and-butter issues – fee undercutting, low wages among young lawyers, low pupilage allowances and the exploitation of lawyers from working-class backgrounds – have also not seen much progress,

“The Bar opts for the status quo to not offend the old guard. Every lawyer is left to fend for themselves in a capitalistic profession, which encourages a dog-eat-dog situation,” he told FMT.

Goh also said young lawyers often feel the Bar’s priorities do not reflect the challenges they face in practice. “Most of us are also stretched by long hours and heavy caseloads, so anything that feels distant from our day-to-day struggles becomes easy to set aside,” he said.

Only 15% of the 25,338 ballot papers issued in the election for the 2026-2027 term were returned, the lowest in the last five years. In previous years, the percentage of ballots returned was 22% in 2024, 20% in 2023, 24% in 2022 and 27% in 2021.

Both Rajsurian and Goh said the postal voting system was outdated. Ballots are sent by post to members, who must tick up to 16 names and return the ballot, either by post or in person.

“In an era where nearly every aspect of practice from e-filing to online case management is digital, this analogue method feels unnecessarily slow, inconvenient and out of touch,” said Rajsurian.

Do lawyers know the candidates?

Tan said lawyers often know only some of the candidates vying for positions on the Bar Council, as the profession’s demographics is diverse and each candidate has their own circle of influence and contacts.

Rajsurian said the same pool of individuals also often dominates the ballot year after year, creating the impression that elections are predictable and controlled by established blocs.

“With minimal campaigning and limited visibility, most members simply do not feel personally connected to the candidates,” he said.

Tan, as well as former Bar president George Varughese, suggested that the Bar take the necessary steps to allow for a more modern voting system, Varughese said the Bar should primarily address the apathy among lawyers about elections.

“If the reasons for the apathy are not adequately addressed, then even with online voting, the number of voters may not increase significantly,” he said. - FMT