Article contributed by Julian R Francis, Officer, Bar Council
The Bar Council organised a briefing session on 20 Nov 2009 for Multimedia University (MMU) and University Utara Malaysia (UUM) law graduates currently undergoing pupillage. A total of 132 pupils in chambers attended the briefing held at the Bar Council Auditorium.
The event started with an introductory speech by George Varughese, the Secretary of the Malaysian Bar. Following that, Steven Thiru and Brendan Navin Siva, Co–Chairpersons of the Professional Standards and Development Committee and Hendon Mohamed, Deputy Chairperson, delivered the briefing.
The briefing concerned the Legal Profession Qualifying Board (“the Board”)’s decision that MMU and UUM law graduates must still undergo a training course in specific areas of legal practice for purposes of admission to the Malaysian Bar.
The Bar Council organised a briefing session on 20 Nov 2009 for Multimedia University (MMU) and University Utara Malaysia (UUM) law graduates currently undergoing pupillage. A total of 132 pupils in chambers attended the briefing held at the Bar Council Auditorium.
The event started with an introductory speech by George Varughese, the Secretary of the Malaysian Bar. Following that, Steven Thiru and Brendan Navin Siva, Co–Chairpersons of the Professional Standards and Development Committee and Hendon Mohamed, Deputy Chairperson, delivered the briefing.
The briefing concerned the Legal Profession Qualifying Board (“the Board”)’s decision that MMU and UUM law graduates must still undergo a training course in specific areas of legal practice for purposes of admission to the Malaysian Bar.
The decision to initiate the mandatory training course was made pursuant to the report by an evaluation committee set up by the Board to evaluate the two universities’ law courses leading to the award of Bachelor of Law (LLB) degrees.
The pupils in chambers were informed that the training course will consist of three subjects – Opinion Writing with Special Emphasis on Contract and Tort, Pleadings and Conveyancing Practice. Pupils will be placed in three groups and each group will attend the session on one different subject each weekend for three weekends in Jan 2010 (16 and 17 Jan, 23 and 24 Jan and 30 and 31 Jan 2010).
Each subject will be taught for 15 hours (eight hours on Saturday and seven hours on Sunday). Senior lawyers will be conducting the vocational course, primarily in English. Source materials will be provided and the pupils will receive theirs before the training begins.
The pupils were reminded to treat the training course seriously. Although they will be assessed via assignments instead of examinations, they can still fail if they do not meet the requisite standards, in which case, the pupil will be required to undergo the course again.
The briefing ended at 5.50 pm and the pupils were treated to refreshments.
The pupils in chambers were informed that the training course will consist of three subjects – Opinion Writing with Special Emphasis on Contract and Tort, Pleadings and Conveyancing Practice. Pupils will be placed in three groups and each group will attend the session on one different subject each weekend for three weekends in Jan 2010 (16 and 17 Jan, 23 and 24 Jan and 30 and 31 Jan 2010).
Each subject will be taught for 15 hours (eight hours on Saturday and seven hours on Sunday). Senior lawyers will be conducting the vocational course, primarily in English. Source materials will be provided and the pupils will receive theirs before the training begins.
The pupils were reminded to treat the training course seriously. Although they will be assessed via assignments instead of examinations, they can still fail if they do not meet the requisite standards, in which case, the pupil will be required to undergo the course again.
The briefing ended at 5.50 pm and the pupils were treated to refreshments.