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Bar seeks to put changes on hold

Saturday, 19 August 2006 08:01am

© The Star (Used by permission)

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Bar has voted in favour of a motion to urge the Government to put amendments to the Legal Profession Act on hold for the time being.

Its president, Yeo Yang Poh, said lawyers who turned up for the Bar emergency general meeting (EGM) yesterday agreed that the Bar Council should appoint an ad hoc committee to further study the amendments, which were passed last month, and that the committee would then make recommendations to the council.

The council would then make recommendations to the authorities accordingly.

Among the “problematic” areas were the removal of the right of lawyers to judicial review of any decision made by the Bar Council’s disciplinary board and the secrecy maintained by members of the examining board, he said.

A record 3,265 members turned up at the EGM held at Wisma MCA here yesterday.

In an earlier report, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Nazri Aziz had said the Government would not postpone enforcement of the Legal Profession Act 1976 (Amendment) Act 2006.

He said the Government had made the amendment based on the recommendation of the Bar Council, adding that some lawyers did not agree as they felt that the judicial review should be in place to ensure justice.

“But we have enough avenues to ensure justice as we can make appeals through the High Court, Court of Appeal and Federal Court,” he said.

He also said if the group of lawyers adopted any resolution during the EGM, the Government would review it during the subsequent Parliament meetings.