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The Legal Profession Committee (“LPC”) is continuing its function to address and deliberate upon a variety of enquiries and requests raised by Members of the Bar as well as the public on issues relating to the professional conduct and practice of lawyers. LPC also renders its views relating to the application of the provisions of the Legal Profession Act 1976 (“LPA”) and the various rules and rulings issued under section 57.
During the period of 14 May to 16 Nov 2010, LPC met seven times and discussed the following matters, among others:
1. Issuance of post-dated cheques
Pursuant to section 57(a) of LPA, Bar Council issued the following ruling, which came into effect on 1 June 2010:
No advocate and solicitor is allowed to issue any post-dated cheque from a client’s account notwithstanding the client’s instructions to do so and that there are sufficient funds in the account.
Members of the Bar were notified of the ruling via Circular No 159/2010 (dated 1 June 2010).
2. Names in name stamps informed via Circular No 193/2010 (dated 13 July 2010)
To enable Bar Council to verify whether an attesting advocate and solicitor has a valid Practising Certificate, Bar Council adopted the following ruling, which came into effect on 2 Aug 2010:
An Advocate and Solicitor shall state his name together with his Malaysian Bar membership number, as specified in his Practising Certificate, when attesting and/or certifying Land Office documents or any other documents in his capacity as an Advocate and Solicitor.
Bar Council issued Circular No 193/2010 (dated 13 July 2010) to inform Members of this ruling.
3. Guidelines for law firms when opening a client’s file
Pursuant to section 25 of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 (“AMLATFA”), Bank Negara Malaysia conducted on-site examinations on selected legal firms in Malaysia from 16 Aug to 30 Sept 2010. The purpose of the examinations was to monitor and assess compliance of advocates and solicitors with the requirements in part IV of AMLATFA and the relevant Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism Guidelines when law firms carry out the following activities for their clients:
(i) Buying and selling immovable property;
(ii) Managing clients’ money, securities or other property;
(iii) Managing accounts, including savings and securities accounts;
(iv) Organising contributions for the creation, operation or management of companies; or
(v) Creating, operating or managing legal entities, or arranging, buying and selling of business entities.
Following that, LPC is developing a set of guidelines for law firms when opening a client’s file.
Although there is still much work to be done, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the members of LPC for their invaluable contribution and continued commitment, and to Members of the Bar who have contributed their views and suggestions. Sarengapani K RajooChairpersonLegal Profession CommitteeDated 16 Nov 2010
(1) Sarengapani K Rajoo (Chairperson) (2) Chen Kah Leng (Deputy Chairperson) Members: (3) Amar Chand Vohrah (4) Andrew Khoo Chin Hock (5) Benedict Cheang Chu Yong (6) C Megalai (7) GK Ganesan (8) Lee Seong Yan (9) Ng Seng Kiok (10) Nicholas Chang (11) Paul R Manecksha (12) Rajoo D Moothy (13) Rejinder Singh (14) R Pushpamalar (15) Seumas Tan Nyap Tek (16) S Gunasegaran (17) SS Muker (18) Trevor George Officers–in–charge: Christina Adele Gomez, Marianna Laureen Tan
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Circular No 109/2012: Be a Part of the Bar Council Constitutional Law Committee
