PETALING JAYA: The Bar Council should lead the Legal Profession Qualifying Board instead of the attorney-general, says a former Bar president, George Varughese.
He said the Bar is in the best position to determine the board’s direction, including matters relating to the Certificate in Legal Practice (CLP) examination.
The board is currently headed by the attorney-general under the Legal Profession Act.
The other members of the board include two judges who are nominated by the Chief Justice, an academician from a Faculty of Law nominated by the higher education minister, and the Bar president or a representative. The chief registrar of the Federal Court acts as the board’s secretary.
Varughese said the Bar had in 2019 proposed amendments to the LPA taking into account the changes that have taken place in the legal profession since 1976.
“Among the proposals were to change the composition of the board where the Bar will have a bigger representation,” he said.
Another lawyer, Fahri Azzat, said the Bar should assume leadership since it is closest to the profession and is in charge of its professional development courses.
The LPQB did not conduct any further career enhancement and education programmes for lawyers, apart from conducting the CLP examination and the Bahasa Malaysia qualifying examinations, he said.
He also called for the membership of the board to include retired judges of the UK Supreme Court or Australian High Court.
The Bar should also have a say in the syllabus and training modules of local universities.
Lawyer R Kengadharan suggested that the board recognise some of the universities in South Asian countries which have law courses that are of proven quality. - FMT
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