Today, the Young Lawyers Movement (YLM) submitted two motions to the Malaysian Bar to address long-standing issues on minimum wage and sexual harassment investigations.
In a statement, YLM stated that the motions were submitted at the Malaysian Bar office in Kuala Lumpur ahead of the Bar's 75th Annual General Meeting on March 13, which will be conducted virtually for the first time.
The first motion, proposed by YLM representative Nathalie Kee (above, left), seeks to clarify the Malaysian Bar's now 14-year-old internal sexual harassment complaints mechanism.
The matter was reported in a Malaysiakini article last November to be "faulty" and incapable of holding inquiries due to a legal impediment.
The news report came on the heels of a young lawyer whistleblowing on the faulty mechanism, wherein the Bar Council, the executive arm of the Malaysian Bar, informed the complainant that it could not proceed with an investigation due to a "legal hurdle".
The motion was seconded by 40 lawyers urging the Bar Council to clarify the status of the mechanism.
YLM claimed that the Bar Council has never formally addressed the issues raised and/or clarified the exact "legal hurdle", which appears to suggest that the mechanism is now unworkable.
"The Young Lawyers Movement is deeply troubled by the Bar Council's lack of transparency on the faults of this mechanism and its continued silence on a matter of such grave importance.
"The Bar Council's apparent inactions and lack of transparency on this matter and how it intends to remedy the 'legal hurdle', contradict its repeated reiterations to clamp down on this pernicious issue and its commitment to promote a safe and healthy work environment in the legal workplace," the statement says.
Motion on minimum wage
The second motion, proposed by another representative Goh Cia Yee, demands the Bar Council to clarify its position and intended actions on minimum remuneration for trainee lawyers, also known as pupils.
This motion comes on the spurs of an online petition calling for the implementation of minimum remuneration for pupils, which has since garnered more than 4,000 signatures and has been served on representatives of various State Bars.
"While other jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Australia, have already implemented some form of mandatory or recommended minimum remuneration for their pupils or trainee lawyers, the legal industry in Malaysia is still lagging behind."
It added that without strong willpower to make informed policy in this respect, pupils continue to be subjected to economic exploitation, with some taking home remuneration substantially lower than the national minimum wage.
Ten other lawyers have since seconded this minimum wage motion.
YLM said seconders of both motions are individuals supporting the motions and are not necessarily members of the YLM. - Mkini
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