The Malaysian Bar - Press Release: Bar Council and Taylor’s University co-organise Conference on Legal Education in Malaysia

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Press Release: Bar Council and Taylor’s University co-organise Conference on Legal Education in Malaysia

Wednesday, 06 July 2011 03:31pm

“Qualifying for the Bar – Standards Across the Jurisdictions”

Public expectations of the knowledge and skills required of lawyers continue to increase, particularly with the advent of globalisation. 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. Further reform and revamp of professional legal training programmes have been slow the world over.

In Malaysia, the professional training of law graduates has reached an impasse, with multiple entry routes into the legal profession requiring different standards of entry. Bar Council has, since 1990, proposed a convergence of these routes through the introduction of a Common Bar Course. The content and mechanics of such a course are still being deliberated.

In view of this, Bar Council, in collaboration with Taylor’s Law School, is co-organising the Conference on Legal Education, to be held at the Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus on 29 and 30 July 2011. Themed “Qualifying for the Bar: Standards Across the Jurisdictions”, the conference will witness speakers from Australia, Canada, Hong Kong India, New Zealand, Singapore and the UK sharing best practices on training of law graduates for the legal profession. Experts from these Commonwealth jurisdictions will share their experiences of, and experiments with, reform in their home countries, and propose the way forward. Bar Council hopes that our Common Bar Course will be benchmarked against the quality and standards achieved in these countries.

The Malaysian Bar has expressed concern over the quality of law graduates entering the legal profession in Malaysia. The Common Bar Course is an excellent opportunity to raise the bar and ensure that only those who meet the required standards are admitted to practice.

Steven Thiru, Chairperson of the Bar Council Ad Hoc Committee on the Common Bar Course, has emphasised that the Common Bar Course should be the ultimate filter for entry into the legal profession. According to him, the underlying theme of the Common Bar Course is that the training provided will meet the expectations of the Malaysian Bar and the needs of clients and society.

Taylor’s University Vice Chancellor, Professor Dato’ Dr Hassan, believes that legal education should aim to prepare law graduates adequately to meet the needs of the legal profession, and should maintain the highest professional standards of ethics and the spirit of public service. He said, “Taylor’s University is pleased to offer its support to Bar Council in ensuring that future law graduates receive the best training possible to equip them to become ethical leaders and play public service roles in society."

The Conference also aims to provide an avenue for stakeholders to present their viewpoints and recommendations on the proposed Common Bar Course. There will be five working group sessions featuring academics from public and private universities, the judicial and legal service, the legal profession, pupils in chambers and law students.

The line-up of speakers and topics is as follows:

1) Steven Thiru, Chairperson of the 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”

2) Professor Nigel Savage, Chief Executive of The College of Law of England & Wales

Talk on “UK: Bar Professional Training Course and Inns of Court”

3) Christopher Roper, Consultant; Secretary, Judicial Conference of Australia

Talk on “Australia: The Legal Practice Courses”

4) Professor (Dr) N R Madhava Menon

Talk on “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”

5) Dieter Yih, Vice-President of the Law Society of Hong Kong