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Article contributed by Brendan Navin Siva, Chairperson, Professional Standards and Development Committee, and photos by Roslina bt Razak, Accounts Assistant

The Advocacy Training Course (“ATC”) was conducted on 22 and 23 Jan 2011 at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex, Jalan Duta, utilising five courtrooms.  The ATC was jointly organised by the Bar Council Professional Standards and Development Committee, Chief Registrar’s Office of the Federal Court of Malaysia, Malaysia Inner Temple Alumni Association and Lincoln’s Inn Alumni Association.

The ATC was designed to teach advocacy to Members of the Bar, utilising the Hampel method of teaching/training.  The Hampel teaching method requires participants to perform as advocates in a simulated courtroom environment under the guidance of experienced and trained practitioners who observe their performance and offer guidance.

The participants, limited to 30, were divided into five groups and allocated to their respective courtrooms.  Two trainers were assigned to each courtroom.  The trainers comprised Members of the Bar and Judiciary who had been trained in November 2010 on how to teach using the Hampel method.  To read a web report on the Advocacy Teacher Training Course held in November 2010, please click here.

The trainers who volunteered their time and knowledge for the two-day-weekend intensive programme were YA Tuan Lee Swee Seng, YA Tuan Mah Weng Kwai, Ariff Rozhan, Brendan Navin Siva, Chris Leong, Dhinesh Baskaran, Ezane Chong, Gopal Sreenevasan, Ravindran Nekoo, Robert Lazar, Sitpah Selvaratnam, Siva Kumar Kanagasabai and Vatsala Ratnasabapathy.  Throughout the course, the participants had the benefit of being guided by eight different trainers who rotated from courtroom to courtroom.

All participants, consisting of Members from the Klang Valley and other parts of Malaysia such as Johor Bahru, Malacca, Taiping, Temerloh and even Kuching, agreed that the ATC was extremely successful and beneficial.  A cursory perusal of the feedback/evaluation forms revealed that the participants found their trainers to be very “approachable” and “pleasant”.  One participant remarked, “Before this, I have never conducted any trial and I was able to learn so much including how to structure my questioning”.  According to another participant, the ATC was “a good experience… I didn’t feel humiliated at all in front of the trainers and other participants”.  Many participants pointed out that the video review sessions were especially helpful as they were able to observe themselves performing as advocates, thus highlighting areas that needed improvement.

As one of the roving trainers who observed the training being conducted in each courtroom during the ATC, I found all the trainers to be extremely helpful, positive and constructive.  More importantly, they displayed a high level of discipline in employing the Hampel method correctly.  Across the board, they were all very generous in imparting their knowledge and personal “secrets of the trade”.  I have no doubt that all 30 participants left the ATC as better advocates than they were before.

The ATC was also made lively and realistic with the participation of Members of the Bar as witnesses in the training process.  Members who volunteered for this aspect of the ATC included Honey Tan, HR Dipendra, Mohd Izral Khairy, Sudharsanan T, Syamsuriatina Ishak and Tharminder Singh.  They played the roles of witnesses impeccably to allow the trainers to assess the participants’ ability in handling different types of witnesses.

A number of volunteers, comprising pupils in chambers and attachment students, assisted trainers with the video recording process and video review sessions to ensure the ATC ran effectively.  The volunteers included Aarthi Jeyarajah, Adelina Chow, Ching Kian Chun, Derrick Chan, Elisabeth Howard, Eric Lee, Goh Phey Shan, Saira Nur Farrin, Siti Nurida Sehoo and Wong Kar Fai.  Their valuable assistance resulted in the highly educational video review sessions.

Last but certainly not least, the support and efforts of YA Tan Sri James Foong Cheng Yuen, Judge of the Federal Court, and YA Dato’ Mary Lim Thiam Suan, Judge of the High Court, were also instrumental in ensuring the success of the ATC.

The Organising Committee intends to organise regular ATCs throughout the year, with the next one tentatively scheduled for 19 and 20 Mar 2011 in Penang.  The ATC may be conducted in Kuala Lumpur again in April/May 2011.  As these courses are designed to assist Members with the basics of advocacy, junior Members and Members with little advocacy experience will find them immensely useful and beneficial.  Members of the Bar are encouraged to look out for the upcoming courses and consider enrolling, or sending their firms’ lawyers for it. 

Brendan Navin Siva
Chairperson
Professional Standards and Development Committee
Bar Council