The Committee looks into issues concerning criminal law and has thus far been working on the following matters:
a) Modernising of Criminal Procedure Code
The Attorney General's Chambers has established a law department to look into amendments to the existing laws as well as to consider new laws. One of the projects undertaken by the said department is to look into the existing Criminal Procedure Code with a view to modernising the same. An Ad-Hoc Committee headed by YBhg Dato Salmah Binti Abdul Rahman the Law Reform Commissioners, has been set up for the above purpose. The Committee comprises officers from various bodies such as the police, prison authorities, Public Welfare Department, representatives from the Law Faculties of various Universities and etc. The Bar Council has appointed two members to serve on the said Committee.
b) Amendments to the Penal Code on Termination of Pregnancy
The Malaysian Medical Association proposed that some amendments be made to the Penal Code on Termination of Pregnancy because although the existing legislation allows medical practitioners to perform abortions, it does not provide for any protection to the practitioner when death occurs in the course of abortion.
In its proposal, MMC has also made recommendations to widen the grounds for the termination of pregnancy to which some members strongly voiced their objections and stressed that such matters involves the issues of procreation rights, right of choice and religious grounds.
The Committee was of the view that generally, the exceptions under section 312 of the Penal Code would also apply to sections 313-316 but requested for an amendment to be made to expressly state that those exceptions be extended to the said section for clarity purposes. In May 2002, the MMA called for a meeting and the Bar Council representative related the Committee's views to the Malaysian Medical Association. In November 2002, the MMC called for a final meeting for the purpose of finalising the proposed amendments which were to be submitted to the AG's Chambers for consideration. The Committee's request for an amendment to expressly state that the exception under section 312 should be applied to sections 313-316 has been adopted. The grounds include the following:
i. Situations where there is substantial risk that if the child were born, the mother would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped, or
ii. Pregnancy is alleged to have been caused by rape or incest.
The Committee will undertake to look at the legislation of other jurisdictions with a view to propose a separate legislation such as the Medical Termination of Pregnancy.
c) Meeting with Attorney General and Officers
A delegation from the Bar Council, comprising members of the Committee led by the President and the Chairman of the Criminal Law Committee met with the Attorney General and his officer on 12 March 2002.
At the meeting the Attorney-General expressed his concern over the backlog of appeals from the Subordinates Courts to the High Court in various states and requested that the Bar Council compile a list of the cases and arrange for a further meeting with the Attorney General's officer to attend the same. In view of the above, a notice was published in the Infoline requesting all State Bar Chairmen to compile the number of appeals files by members of the Bar and forward the same to the Bar Council for its appropriate action.
Regrettably, the Bar Council noted that the response to the notice was very poor. A few cases were brought to the Council's attention and were forwarded to the Chief Judge of Malaya for appropriate action.
The Committee has also raised the issue on remand proceedings, section 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code which is presently being looked into by the Attorney General's Ad-Hoc Committee.
d) Seminar on 'Police Powers and Rights of Detainees', 26 April 2003
A seminar cum workshop was organised by the Bar Council at the Bar Council Auditorium.
The purpose of the seminar was to discuss the powers and duty of the judiciary, investigative powers of the police and role of lawyers during the remand period of a detainee as allowed by the laws of Malaysia.
It also sought to highlight and ventilate the various difficulties and limitations faced by the Police, the Judiciary and the Bar in the discharge of their respective duties and obligations concerning the rights of persons under investigation with a view to forge a mutually expeditious, pragmatic and just approach to persons under investigations.
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Talk on Summary Judgement (25 May 2012) Organised by the Selangor Bar Committee, this talk will take place at 5:00 pm, at the Selangor Bar Committee Auditorium, on 25 May 2012 (Friday). The talk will be conducted by Ramesh Supramanian. 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.
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