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Circular No 140/2011
Dated 1 July 2011

To all Members of the Malaysian Bar


All across the Commonwealth, the legal profession is being challenged by a globalised world.  While the practice of law has leapt over borders and expanded in scope and content, the professional education of law graduates has not kept pace with the increased expectations of the knowledge and skills required of law graduates by the legal profession.  Despite a need to revamp the professional legal training, reform has been slow in many countries.  Malaysia is of no exception.  The professional training of law graduates in Malaysia has reached a cross road with multiple entry routes into the legal profession requiring different standards of entry.  Bar Council has, since 1990, proposed a convergence of these routes into a Common Bar Course.  There is yet no consensus on how to move ahead with the proposed reforms.

This conference is designed to create a forum to provoke thought and to challenge the status quo.  It is meant for those who are interested in charting a new direction in the training of law graduates for legal practice.  Experts from other Commonwealth jurisdictions will share their experiences learnt in their countries with their own experiments at reforms and advise us on the way forward.  There will be working group discussions of stakeholders to explore the way to train legal professionals, benchmarked against the best systems from other countries.

Jointly organised by Bar Council and Taylor’s University, the details of this conference are as follows:

Date:       29 and 30 July 2011 (Friday and Saturday)
Venue:    Block D, Lecture Theatre 12, Taylor’s University, Lakeside Campus

Presently, our confirmed key speakers (topics subject to modification) are:

YB Professor Dato Dr Hassan Said, Vice-Chancellor, Taylor’s University (Welcome Speech);

Lim Chee Wee, President, Malaysian Bar (Speech at the Opening Ceremony);

Steven Thiru, Chairperson, Bar Council Ad Hoc Committee on the Common Bar Course (Keynote Address on “Status Report on Qualifying for the Bar in Malaysia: Transcending the Barriers”);

Professor Nigel Savage, Chief Executive, College of Law of England and Wales (“UK: Bar Professional Training Course and Inns of Court”);

Christopher Roper, Consultant; Secretary, Judicial Conference of Australia (“Australia: The Legal Practice Courses”);

Professor (Dr) NR Madhava Menon, Dr S Radhakrishnan Chair on Parliamentary Studies (Rajya Sabha) (“India: Qualifying the All India Bar Examination as a Necessary Condition for Right to Practise the Profession of Law in India: A Critical Look at the All India Bar Examination Rules, 2010”);

Dieter Yih, Vice-President, Law Society of Hong Kong (“Hong Kong: The Postgraduate Certificate in Law”);

Professor Bradford W Morse, Dean of Law, Te Piringa Faculty of Law, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand; Professor of Law, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada (“Bar Professional Courses in New Zealand and Canada”);

Dr RM Fernandez-Chung, Vice-President/Associate Professor, HELP University College (“Malaysian Common Bar Course”); and

YA Datuk Wahab Patail, Judge, Court of Appeal of Malaysia (“The Way Forward”).

This conference will be of interest to:

Lawyers;

Members of judicial and legal services (Attorney General’s Chambers, Institut Latihan Kehakiman dan Perundangan, Legal Profession Qualifying Board, etc);

Deans and academics from public and private universities;

Pupils in chambers; and

Law students.

For anyone with an interest in the law, or institutions of law, this is the defining conference!  This is your opportunity to be part of change, contribute your creative ideas and make a difference.  To register, kindly complete and return the attached registration form by fax to 03-2032 2043, or by email to sumitra@malaysianbar.org.my by 15 July 2011 (Friday).  For further information, please contact Sumitra Penesar by telephone at 03-2050 2093.

Thank you.

Steven Thiru
Chairperson
Ad Hoc Committee on the Common Bar Course

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