The Bar Council calls for all remand hearings of the detainees detained in connection with the recent demonstrations to be held at the regular court houses and not at the police remand centres as lawyers are having difficulty in gaining access to the remand centres to represent the detainees.
The Bar Council has received numerous complaints from its legal aid volunteer lawyers seeking to represent and render legal aid to the detainees of being kept waiting outside remand centres for long periods and generally having difficulty in gaining information and access to the centres.
The Bar Council states that if the remand centres are to be treated as a court for purposes of remand hearings then full and easy access must be given to lawyers to represent the detainees. For example, at the Pusat Latihan Polis (PULAPOL) Centre at Jalan Gurney used for the remand hearings last Friday 30 October 1998, the lawyers representing the detainees, as officers of the Court, should not have been made to wait for 2 hours under the hot sun outside the locked gates of PULAPOL, and to surrender their identity cards before gaining entry into the hall. As an open Court, the lawyers , family members of the detainees and the public should have been given free and easy access.
The Bar Council also wishes to state that the Police and Court officials in attendance should cooperate with the lawyers to ensure the legal rights of the detainees are safeguarded.
In this regard, the Bar Council reiterates that the following legal rights are guaranteed and enure for the protection of the detainee:
1. that Article 5 of the Federal Constitution guarantees every person who is arrested of the right to consult a legal practitioner: See Article 5 (3) 2. that a detainee has the right to be legally represented at his/her remand hearing : see Saul Hamid v. Public Prosecutor [1987] 2 MLJ 736 3. that the Police as the detaining authority has to comply with legal formalities before a valid remand order can be made and the detainees through his counsel has a right of challenge : see Re: Sivarasa [1996] 3 MLJ 611.
The Bar Council wishes to emphasise the importance of these established principles and calls on the Police and all persons concerned with the remand hearings to cooperate with legal aid lawyers to ensure the detainees obtain the benefit of their rights.
2012 Bar Council Subscription Click the link above to download Circular 072/2012 pertaining to the 2012 Bar Council subscription, including the payment guide and a set of Frequently-Asked-Questions.
2012 Hotel Corporate Rates Attending seminars? Going for a holiday? Click on the link above to check out the list of hotel corporate rates for Members of the Bar, which is updated regularly.
Bar Council Bookshop Read MORE … but pay LE$$! Members enjoy a 20% discount on LexisNexis publications at the Bar Council Bookshop. Click on the link above for the list of available titles.
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.
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.
News/Notices 
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Circular No 110/2012: Seminar on Introduction to ICC Arbitration: An Insight into the 2012 ICC Rules
