The Bar Council’s Strike Force set up to partake in the discussions with
Attorney General’s (AG) Chambers on the proposed scheme of No Fault Liability
(NFL) Scheme, to substitute the current fault based liability scheme in Motor
Vehicle Accident cases, continues to dialogue with the AG’s office.
Last November 12, the AG’s Chambers organised a Forum inviting the relevant
parties to take part in discussing the viability of the NFL scheme in Malaysia.
The speakers at the Forum were: Prof Mehrun Siraj; Darshan Singh – FOMCA; Lim Chia Fook – PIAM; Mohd Ibrahim – Bank Negara; Jagjit Singh – member of the Bar, invited by AG to speak and Santhana Dass – member of the Bar Council Strike Force.
Santhana Dass put forward views compiled by the Strike Force, at the ongoing
State Bar Forums and recently presented Bar Council Memorandum of NFL. Among the
cogent points raised were, inter alia :-
a. Issue of Insurance Premium – the Bar Council registered its concerns that the
NFL scheme will inadvertently lead to the increase of Premiums for Insurance of
Vehicle Users.
b. Costs– the NFL scheme if implemented, should be implemented by the Government
similar to the New Zealand’s model. Can the government cope with the additional
cost?
c. The current system only needs tweaking and need not be
replaced.
Interestingly, Bank Negara’s representative raised the issue of cost and pointed
out that huge funds were needed to carry out and maintain this NFL scheme.
FOMCA’s representative voiced support for the NFL and among reasons cited
included lawyers' tendency to impose excessive fees. They hoped the NFL can
alleviate this problem.
There were also views raised at the Forum that Malaysia not being a welfare
state (unlike New Zealand), and not fully developed yet, may not be ready yet to
embrace the NFL scheme.
On December 5 to 6, Bank Negara has invited the Bar Council representative to
attend another Forum on this issue. Speakers from Thailand and Japan have been
invited to share their experiences on the NFL. In both Countries, a narrow
version of NFL is implemented.
The Strike Force, which meets frequently to plan and strategise the Bar
Council’s position and stand on NFL; have started to make studies of the Thai
and Japanese models and will be present at the said Bank Negara Forum, come this
December 5.
Efforts to persuade the relevant parties to retain the current system are in
full swing and the Strike Force remains optimistic on this issue.
Watch out for more updates about that Forum on the Malaysian Bar website
Richard Wee Thiam Seng
Member
Bar Council Strike Force on NFL
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Seminar on an Introduction to the Industrial Relations Act (23 May 2012) Organised by the Kuala Lumpur Bar Professional Development Committee, this seminar will take place at 3:00 pm, at the Kuala Lumpur Bar Auditorium, on 23 May 2012 (Wednesday). The seminar will be conducted by Wong Keat Ching. Click on the link above for more details.
Seminar on Tax Issues in Financial Transactions (25 May 2012) Organised by the Kuala Lumpur Bar Professional Development Committee, this seminar, featuring S Saravana Kumar, will take place at 3:00 pm, at the Kuala Lumpur Bar Auditorium, on 25 May 2012 (Friday). Click on the link above for more details.
Dialogue with Criminal Law Practitioners (26 May 2012) Organised by Bar Council, this dialogue will take place at 10:00 am to 12:00 pm, at the Raja Aziz Addruse Auditorium, Bar Council, on 26 May 2012 (Saturday). Click on the link above for more details.
Conference on Competition Law (31 May 2012) Organised by Bar Council with the support of LexisNexis, this conference will take place at 8:30 am to 4:00 pm, at Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel, on 31 May 2012 (Thursday). For more details or to register, please contact Vilashini Vijayan (03-2050 2095; vila@malaysianbar.org.my). Click on the link above for more details.
Talk on What Clients Want (7 June 2012) Organised by the KL Bar Practitioners' Affairs Committee, the talk, presented by Ong Eu Jin, will take place at 5:00 pm, at the KL Bar Auditorium, on 7 June 2012 (Thursday). Click on the link above for more details.
4th LAWASIA Family Law Conference, Penang (13 and 14 July 2012) Supported by Penang Bar Committee and the Malaysian Bar, this conference, themed “The New Global Family: Emerging Trends and Challenges to Family Practice”, will take place at Traders Hotel, Penang, on 13 and 14 July 2012 (Friday and Saturday). Click on the link above for more details.
News 
The Bar Council’s Strike Force set up to partake in the discussions with
Attorney General’s (AG) Chambers on the proposed scheme of No Fault Liability
(NFL) Scheme, to substitute the current fault based liability scheme in Motor
Vehicle Accident cases, continues to dialogue with the AG’s office.
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Circular No 106/2012: Accountant’s Report 2011
