Contributed by Joane Sharmila, Writer/Editor, Bar Council, and photos by Mohd Fazli Rosman, Administrative Assistant, Bar Council
Attendance at the Extraordinary General Meeting (“EGM”) began slowly, with 300 Members registered by 2:49 pm, but the numbers picked up fast, and a quorum was reached at 3:04 pm, with 502 Members signed in.
The Chairman, Christopher Leong (President of the Malaysian Bar), called the EGM to order at 3.31 pm, and requested the Members to observe a minute of silence in memory of the victims of flight MH17.
Without much ado, he then brought to attention the Sedition Act 1948 and urged Members to give their support to the #MansuhAktaHasutan campaign spearheaded by the National Young Lawyers Committee ("NYLC"). In doing so, he invited NYLC Chairperson Syahredzan Johan to give a short presentation about the campaign.
Two motions had been proposed for consideration at this EGM:
(1) “Motion proposed by Christopher Leong, as Chairman of the Bar Council and on behalf of the Bar Council, at the Extraordinary General Meeting of the Malaysian Bar to be held on 19 September 2014”, dated 12 Sept 2014; and
(2) “Motion to organise a peaceful protest, “Walk for Justice 2”, against the use of the Sedition Act 1948 and to call for its repeal”, proposed by New Sin Yew and seconded by 121 others, dated 11 Sept 2014.
Christopher Leong called for an amendment to the title of his proposed motion to:
Motion against the Sedition Act, other laws and actions taken which stifle speech and expression, and matters in connection therewith, proposed by Christopher Leong, as Chairman of the Bar Council and on behalf of the Bar Council, at the Extraordinary General Meeting of the Malaysian Bar to be held on 19 September 2014, dated 12 Sept 2014.
While most Members were in favour of the motion, there were some who spoke against it, and others who did not fully oppose the motion but had some concerns regarding sections of it. After various Members had proposed amendments to sections of the motion, which the Chairman, as proposer of the motion, either accepted or declined, a vote was taken. The motion was passed by an overwhelming majority of votes.
Since the motion, as amended, incorporated a resolution calling for the Bar Council to "immediately organise a peaceful protest in the form of a walk", New Sin Yew, the proposer of the second motion, agreed to withdraw his motion.
986 Members registered their attendance at the EGM, which was adjourned at 5:38 pm.
Please click here to access the resolution adopted at the EGM.