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Click here for the 2011 Sijil Annual and Practising Certificate Application Forms

Click here for the Rules on Cessation of, or Change in, Practice

Circular No 185/2011

Dated 24 Aug 2011

To all Members of the Malaysian Bar

Sijil Annual 2012

Pursuant to Part III of the Legal Profession Act 1976, Practising Certificate and Sijil Annual shall be renewed annually.

Members can obtain the Form of Application for Sijil Annual 2012 and the Application Form for Practising Certificate 2012 (hereinafter collectively referred to as the "Application Forms") by the following means:

(1) Download the attachments that come with this circular; or

(2) Download a copy of the Application Forms from the Malaysian Bar website under the About Us>Membership>Sijil Annual tab; or

(3) Collect a copy from their respective State Bar Committee (Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Members may also collect their Application Forms from the Bar Council Secretariat).

A General

(1) To enable the Bar Council Secretariat to process your Application Forms, Members are advised to do the following before submitting the Application Forms:

(a) Ensure the following payments have been made:

(i) 2011 Subscription: RM450;
(ii) 2011 Building Fund: RM100;
(iii) 2011 Legal Aid Fund: RM100;
(iv) 2011 Bar Council Sports Fund: RM10;
(v) 2011 Bar Council LawCare Fund: RM100;
(vi) 2012 Bar Council Compensation Fund: RM100;
(vii) 2012 Bar Council Discipline Fund: RM60; and
(viii) Penalty pursuant to section 46(6) of the Legal Profession Act 1976 (if applicable): RM450.

Subscription of RM450 for 2011 was to be paid on or before 30 June 2011. In the event this payment was not made before 30 June 2011 and the Member was in practice from 1 Jan to 30 June 2011, or any part thereof, an additional penalty payment of RM450 has to be made pursuant to section 46(6) of the Legal Profession Act 1976.

(b) Obtain the Professional Indemnity Insurance Cover 2012 from Jardine Lloyd Thompson Sdn Bhd ("JLT"). Please contact JLT directly for all enquiries pertaining to Professional Indemnity Insurance at:

Jardine Lloyd Thompson Sdn Bhd
Suite 10.2 10th Floor Faber Imperial Court
21A Jalan Sultan Ismail
50250 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2723 3388
Fax: 03-2723 3301
www.myPII.com.my

Please take note that Members are no longer required to forward the receipts for the payments in item A(1)(a) and the Professional Indemnity Insurance Schedule 2012 from JLT with their Application Forms, unless requested otherwise, as the Bar Council Secretariat has upgraded its system and would be able to check online that the formalities have been complied with.

(2) To enable the Bar Council Secretariat to deal with your application expeditiously, kindly submit your Application Forms with the supporting documents duly arranged in the order listed in the SA Application 2012 Checklist attached herewith, not later than 17 Oct 2011 (Monday).

(3) If a Member were to change firm after submission of the Application Forms but prior to the issuance of his or her Sijil Annual and Practising Certificate 2012, a fresh set of Application Forms should be submitted.

B Documents to be Submitted for Application of Sijil Annual and Practising Certificate 2012

The following documents are to be submitted for the application of Sijil Annual and Practising Certificate 2012:

(1) SA Application 2012 Checklist duly completed;

(2) Cheques for the payments stated in A(1)(a) only if the payments have not been made:

(a) In favour of "Bar Council Compensation Fund" for the year 2012 in the sum of RM100;

(b) In favour of "Bar Council Discipline Fund" for the year 2012 in the sum of RM60;

(c) In favour of "Bar Council" in the sum of RM760 (for 2011 Subscription RM450, 2011 Building Fund RM100, 2011 Legal Aid Fund RM100, 2011 Bar Council Sports Fund RM10, and 2011 Bar Council LawCare Fund RM100); and

(d) In favour of "Bar Council" in the sum of RM450 if penalty payment is due.

(3) Application Form for Practising Certificate 2012 duly completed in capital letters;

(4) Form of Application for Sijil Annual 2012 duly completed.

In the form, each Member is required to indicate:

(a) the actual address where he or she is practising at (at the section of the form that states "State the address/es at which you practise or intend to practise"); and
(b) all address(es) of the other offices of the firm, if applicable (at the section of the form that states "And at branch office/s").

(5) State Bar Committee Certificates for:

(a) main office; and
(b) branch office(s) (only applicable to sole proprietor/partner with branch office(s));

confirming that there are no arrears in subscription(s) for 2011.

Where a firm has offices in more than one state, the sole proprietor or all partners of that firm must be a member of all the relevant State Bar Committees where the offices are located, and is/are required to submit the certificates confirming that there are no arrears in subscriptions.

(6) Statutory Declaration by:

(a) sole proprietor/partner: or
(b) legal assistant/consultant;

(7) Accountant's Report 2010 applicable to Members who were sole proprietors/partners from 1 Jan to 31 Dec 2010, or any part thereof, for:

(a) main office; and
(b) branch office(s) (only applicable to sole proprietor/partner with branch office(s));

Each sole proprietor/partner is to submit a copy of the Accountant's Report for the period from 1 Jan to 31 Dec 2010 as an attachment to the Statutory Declaration in addition to the report sent in by the Accountant, unless exempted by Bar Council under rule 6 of the Accountant's Report Rules 1960.

The Accountant's Report is required to be issued under the name of individual members.

Members who have more than one office are required to ensure that the Accountant's Report covers ALL their offices and/or branches OR separate Accountant's Report are submitted for each and every office.

C Additional Documents to be Furnished

The following additional documents are to be furnished:

(1) Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 Compliance Report for Legal Firms Confirmation Form

Bank Negara Malaysia ("BNM"), the competent authority under the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 ("AMLATFA"), has sought Bar Council's assistance to urge legal firms to complete and submit an AMLATFA Compliance Report on BNM's website on a biennial basis. Members of the Bar are requested to return this form duly completed to confirm whether their firms have completed the AMLATFA Compliance Report on BNM's website.

(2) Areas of Practice Form

Bar Council urges all Members of the Bar to return the Areas of Practice Form duly completed to enable Bar Council to compile a database on the areas of practice undertaken by the Members of the Bar.

(3) LawCare: Malaysian Bar Member's Beneficiary/Trustee Nomination Form

Bar Council urges all Members of the Bar who have not submitted the Member's Beneficiary/Trustee Nomination Form or wish to update the list of the nominee(s)/trustee(s)/beneficiary(ies) to return the Member's Beneficiary/Trustee Nomination Form duly completed to enable the LawCare Department to expeditiously pay out the sum insured to the nominee(s)/trustee(s)/beneficiary(ies). For Muslim Members, the entire sum is paid to the named nominee/trustee as trustee, to be distributed according to Faraid.

A copy of the form can be obtained from the Bar Council Secretariat or downloaded from the Malaysian Bar website under the Resource Centre>Frequently Used Forms tab.

D Collection Letters

(1) The Bar Council Secretariat will send collection letters to firms when the Practising Certificates of the firms' practitioners are ready for collection ("Collection Letter").

(2) An authorised representative ("Authorised Collector") of the firm is required to bring along an authorisation letter ("Authorisation Letter") from the firm evidencing that the person is authorised to collect the Practising Certificate(s), together with the Collection Letter. Upon presentation of proof of identification, the Practising Certificate(s) will be released to the Authorised Collector.

(3) Practising Certificate would not be released to individual Member unless the Member is also the Authorised Collector.

(4) The "Track Your Firm's Sijil Annual/Practising Certificate Online" feature on the Malaysian Bar website will be introduced beginning 1 Sept 2011, to assist firms with the collection process.

The feature will enable an authorised representative of a firm to access the following information:

(a) Whether the Sijil Annual/Practising Certificate 2012 of each of the firm's practitioners is ready for collection;

(b) For firms in Kuala Lumpur or Selangor, whether the Sijil Annual/Practising Certificate 2012 of each of the practitioners has been collected by the authorised representative; and

(c) For firms in states other than Labuan, Kuala Lumpur or Selangor, whether the Sijil Annual/Practising Certificate 2012 of each of the firm's practitioners has been sent by the Bar Council Secretariat to the respective State Bar Committees.

Emails/letters to firms, requesting each firm to nominate its authorised representative and provide one email address were sent out to all firms in the months of June and July. To date, 779 firms have been issued with user identification login ("user ID") and password to access this feature.

For more details, please see Circular No 143/2011 dated 5 July 2011.

E Disciplinary and/or Injunction Proceedings

Bar Council will institute disciplinary and/or injunction proceedings in 2012 against Members:

(1) from whom Bar Council has not received the Sijil Annual and Practising Certificate 2012 Application Forms; or

(2) who have not been issued with Sijil Annual and Practising Certificates 2012 by 31 Jan 2012;

except against Members from whom Bar Council has received their Notice of Cessation of Practice supported with a Statutory Declaration as prescribed under the Rulings on Cessation of Practice. A copy of the Rulings and the relevant forms can be obtained from the Bar Council Secretariat or downloaded from the Malaysian Bar website under the Resource Centre>Frequently Used Forms tab.

Any costs incurred by Bar Council in filing the injunction proceedings shall be borne by the Member concerned.

Contact Persons at the Bar Council Membership Department

Should you require any clarification or assistance, kindly call 03-2050 2050, press (1) for Membership Department and press (1) again for Sijil Annual enquiries.

Thank you.

Tony Woon Yeow Thong

Secretary

Malaysian Bar

Click here for the 2012 Sijil Annual and Practising Certificate Application Forms

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