KUALA LUMPUR: The Bar Council yesterday welcomed the prime minister’s
preparedness to meet it alone, if necessary, to discuss issues.
“In that sense, yesterday was an opening to dialogue with the
Bar Council on issues that we are very concerned about. I will ask for an
appointment to meet the prime minister as soon as possible. We are hoping that
it would be sooner rather than later,” said Bar Council president Ambiga
Sreenevasan.
She said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi created much goodwill
yesterday by hosting the dinner and meeting the lawyers.
“No other prime minister had made such an effort,” she said.
On his criticism of the Bar Council for organising the “Walk for Justice” on
Sept 26, Ambiga said she did not mind any criticism.
The prime minister had said demonstrations gave the
impression that a problem had reached an intractable impasse, even when it had
not done so in reality. He said they could have still sat down and talked about
it.
About 2,000 lawyers and others attended the rally, demanding the setting up of a
royal commission over a video clip purportedly showing lawyer Datuk V. K. Lingam
allegedly brokering judicial appointments with a senior judge.
“One of the things we will explain to the prime minister when we meet him is why
we were driven to take that action,” she said.
“I understand from the PM’s message that we have the same goals, but it is only
our methods that might differ. Sometimes, we may see things differently. We, as
lawyers, look at things from the legal and human rights point of view, while for
the government, other considerations may apply.
“This has been something that has been going on for some time. We have views and
they sometimes may differ from the government. This is nothing unusual.”
Ambiga said Abdullah recognised the role of the Bar and civil society, as well
as the fact that the public valued the Bar’s opinion.
“That is a compliment to the Bar,” she said.
On Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul
Aziz likening the lawyers to the opposition by “walking", Ambiga said: “That is
totally wrong. I don’t want to sound defensive, but in our midst, we have
lawyers from all political parties.
“We cut across race, religion, the works. We are not driven by anything else
except the cause that we are trying to promote.”
Malaysian Bar past president Datuk Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari said the prime
minister’s approach to the whole issue was on the basis of the country’s
economic position, whereas the Bar reasoned on the basic fundamentals of law.
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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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