On 24th July 2003, the Malay Mail carried on its front page an irresponsible and careless headline stating that “1 in 4 lawyers are cheats”, which remark is most misleading and mischievous.
The Bar Council had, by an earlier Press Statement dated 25th July 2003, promptly pointed out the gross error in the figure reported to be the number of complaints lodged against lawyers this year, and carefully explained the fallacy in drawing the aforesaid conclusion from such figures alone. A copy of our earlier statement is attached hereto.
The Bar Council regrets to note that the Malay Mail, which had chosen to prominently sensationalise the above erroneous report, has not given equal prominence to the Council’s clarification. This has fallen short of responsible journalism. Where information published has been found to be inaccurate and comments based thereon pointed out to be misplaced, professional journalism dictates that a correction which sets out the true position must be given prompt and equally prominent publicity.
Thus, the Bar Council calls upon the Malay Mail to publish a correction with equal prominence as its earlier front-paged headline and the accompanying untrue report.
As this unfortunate episode is reported to have originated from an information provided by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Rais Yatim, the Bar Council also calls upon the Minister to clarify or correct the statement attributed to him and to set the record straight.
The notion that “one in four” lawyers in Malaysia is dishonest is a wholly irresponsible conclusion drawn from nothing more than sensationalised fiction which is totally unrelated to reality; and as such must be completely dispelled.
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International Malaysia Law Conference (26 to 28 Sept 2012) Hurry up! The countdown continues and the current promotion rate ends 30 June 2012. Don't miss what is going to be the best conference in the region! On top of that, if you sign up with 5 or more people from the same organisation, we will give you a 10% group discount. Click on the link above to register.
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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Circular No 110/2012: Seminar on Introduction to ICC Arbitration: An Insight into the 2012 ICC Rules
