Lawyers say it’s good to replace CLP with no-exam courses

PETALING JAYA: Two lawyers who studied abroad have welcomed the proposal to do away with the Certificate of Legal Practice (CLP) examination and replace it with practical assessments carried out during academic and training courses.

However, they called for assurances that high standards would be maintained.

A Northumbria University graduate who wanted to be identified only as Elise said she feared that if the standards were too low, there might be “an oversupply situation with too many qualified lawyers but not enough law firms to train them”.

The other lawyer, legal consultant V Sasikala, questioned whether practical assessments would be as adequate as an examination to determine competence.

The CLP is a nine-month course for graduates from shortlisted law schools in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and some local institutions.

Those who sit for the CLP take five papers – General Paper, Professional Practice, Evidence, Criminal Procedure and Civil Procedure – and must pass all of them at one go before being called to the Malaysian Bar.

The annual passing rate for the examination is between 10% and 20%.

Last week, de facto law minister Liew Vui Keong said the government was considering a proposal to replace the CLP with what he called a common bar course (CBC). He said those taking the CBC “probably won’t have to sit for an exam but have to go through various courses set up by the Bar Council and also training courses by relevant bodies”.

Malaysian Bar president George Varughese subsequently told FMT the Bar would not have its primary focus on examinations if the CBC saw the light of day.

He said the CBC must be outcome-driven and focused on the development of critical skills, such as those related to advocacy, legal procedures in civil and criminal matters, arbitration and mediation, negotiation and the day-to-day operations of a law firm.

Elise recently passed the CLP on her second try. She alleged that the marking scheme was not transparent.

She acknowledged that it enhanced one’s knowledge but said success in passing its five papers should not be the sole determining factor of a candidate’s suitability for the legal profession.

“If the government is going to commence with the CBC and abolish the examination part, it must ensure that the standard is high enough so that everyone is competent and well trained after the course,” she said.

Sasikala, who passed the CLP at her first go, said the course provided necessary insights into Malaysian laws that were not included as part of her education at Liverpool University in the 1990s.

“Of course the CBC might be a more practical and hands-on course, but the CLP had some courses relevant to Malaysian practice,” she said, citing modules relating to civil law, civil procedure and the Evidence Act.

However, she welcomed the possibility that the CBC would cover more practical areas. She gave the example of training in the handling of legal firms’ finances, saying this was something she learned to do by trial and error.

“What the CBC could also include is the use of the courts’ e-system and other online avenues since everything is now computerised,” she added. - FMT