Transmenu powered by JoomlArt.com - Mambo Joomla Professional Templates Club

The subject of disciplinary proceedings against lawyers has been widely reported in the newspapers yesterday (24/7/03) as a result of comments made by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Utama Rais Yatim.

The Bar Council agrees with the Minister that ways must be found to speed up the disposal of cases of complaints against lawyers for alleged misconduct. The Bar Council is encouraged to hear that the proposal made by the Disciplinary Board to move from a 3-tier to a 2-tier investigative process will be adopted by the authorities, and that amendments to the Legal Profession Act will only be made after consultation with the Bar.

However, a clarification needs to be made with regard to the report in the papers that as many as 2599 complaints have been lodged against lawyers in the year 2003 alone. This is incorrect, and may have resulted from a misunderstanding of the statistics kept. The figure of 2599 cases is the cumulative total of the number of complaints as at 2003 (i.e. accumulated from all previous years and including this year) which have yet to be concluded, out of which one has to further take into account 647 cases that have been disposed of in the first six months of this year. In other words, as at July 2003, 1952 cases (which are cumulated from previous years) are pending.

Thus, the figure of 2599 cases is NOT the number of complaints lodged in 2003 alone. In fact, only 195 complaints have been received in the first 6 months of 2003.

It should also be pointed out that figures alone do not provide a full or meaningful picture of the situation. Many of the complaints lodged have been found to be without merit, and many more involve minor misdemeanours. A large number of complaints falls into the category of lawyers who were late in their annual renewal of practicing certificates. Then there are many cases relating to breach of etiquette. Only a very small portion of the complaints concerns acts of dishonesty such as misappropriation of monies. Thus, it cannot be deduced from a mere reference to figures that a considerable proportion of Malaysian lawyers have had allegations of acts of dishonesty made against them.

However, this does not meant that cases involving dishonesty, being small in number, are lightly treated. The converse is true. The Bar Council views such cases with very serious concern. Continuing efforts are made to explore ways in which the Disciplinary Board can improve its efficiency and speed in dealing with complaints against lawyers, especially where allegations of dishonest conduct are involved.

It needs also to be pointed out that the Disciplinary Board is a body created by statute, and it functions independently of the Bar (though funded by the latter, as stipulated by statute).

Dated 25th July 2003.

Haji Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari
Chairman
Bar Council