4. There were some decisions by the Courts in 2010 which had given rise to concerns and doubts by the public on the independence of the Judiciary in Malaysia. The case of Public Prosecutor v Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim concerning the right of an accused person to be furnished with documents under S.51A CPC is one of the instance where the public have expressed deep concern and doubts on the independence of the Judiciary to function as the defender of the liberties of the individual citizen when faced with the powers of the institutions of government.
5. Whilst we note that the case was not decided by the Courts in Sabah and Sarawak but it is our fervent hope that such public concerns and doubts on the independence of the Judiciary be answered by the appropriate Courts through future Court Judgments when the situation arises. No amount of assurances, statements or speeches given from the Bar or elsewhere can adequately address such public perception and concerns.
Raising the Bar – steps to improve the standard of conduct of members of the Legal profession.
6. Although there has been a change at the helm of our Association, the objectives of the Association remain the same. Basically, amongst those items pertinent to the start of the legal year 2011.
7. To encourage our members to maintain and improve their standards in all aspects of legal practice and conduct in general.
8. To assist the Government and the Courts in all matters concerning legislation and the administration of the law in Sarawak.
9. To promote good relations and social intercourse among members and between members and other persons concerned in the administration of law and justice.
10. Thus it is within these objectives laid down in our advocates’ constitution that we the Advocates’ Association has conducted our affairs.
11. In line with the objective of improving standards amongst our members, Year 2010 has seen a few but significant events organized by the Association, notably, the 6th National Symposium on Islamic Banking and Finance in Sarawak which was conducted for two days in collaboration with the Association of Islamic Banking Institution of Malaysia and the Bar Council. Judicial decisions on Islamic transaction have added a new dimension to that growing area of Law. Hence, the symposium was to enable our lawyers to be equipped with and also updated with the necessary knowledge in the fundamentals of an Islamic Financial transaction.
12. Seminars were a regular feature in the year 2010 so as to encourage members and also non-members to keep themselves abreast with the rapid developments in Law.
13. On the other hand, The Association has also not forgotten its social obligations by embarking on the My Constitution campaign in Sarawak and by our involvement in the National Legal Aid Foundation to be known as Yayasan Bantuan Guaman Kebangsaan. An independent body that would fund the conduct of legal aid.
My Lord and my Lady,
14. Perhaps, the most significant steps taken to improve the standard of legal profession in Sarawak are the 4 proposed Rules submitted by the Association for your Lordship’s approval with the concurrence of the State Attorney General.
They are as follows:-
a) The Proposed Advocates (Pupilage And Admission) Rules 2009
b) The Proposed new Advocates (Inquiry Committee) Rules 2009
c) The Proposed Advocates (Fees) Amended Rules 2009
d) The Proposed Advocates (Name of Law Firms Rules 2009)
My Lord and my Lady,
15. The standard of the legal profession has always been the main concern of the Bar not only in Sarawak but also the legal fraternities throughout the world. Your lordship has shown great personal concern in this respect and had required chambering pupils to attend an interview to ensure that the pupils are truly possessed with the necessary knowledge before they are called to the Bar.
16. Your confidence in local talent has always manifested itself during hearings of applications for ad-hoc licenses to practice in the Courts of Sabah and Sarawak. It is also our hope that soon, such applications will be a thing of the past, whereby we will have enough of our own eminent counsels and will no longer need to the services of those across the seas.
17. My Lord. The duty to ensure the standard of conduct of legal profession are maintained and enhanced are also part of the Bar’s responsibility to society to ensure their reliance and faith in those whom they seek representation are not misplaced.
18. The introduction of the proposed Advocates (Pupilage and Admission) Rules 2009 will provide better training and preparation for future advocates being ready to discharge onerous duties as counsels.
19. These Rules provides that pupils, after serving three months of pupilage, may, in place of his /her Master, appear
i) Before a Judge or a Registrar of the High Court , in Chambers,
ii) Before a Judge of the Sessions Court or a Magistrate ,and
iii) Before a Registrar of the Subordinate Courts
20. To mention a case in a non-contentious aspect, including entering judgment in default, or to apply for Bail or to take a consent judgment or order.
21. Further, the proposed Rules will also require a pupil to attend an etiquette course held by our Association during his or her pupilage, before an application for admission can be filed.
22. Thus, by doing so, the Association hopes that it will be able to steer the infants in the legal profession towards being a better generation of those interested in being a part of the noble profession of upholding the Rule of Law and the Administration of Justice.
My Lord and my Lady ,
23. At the other end of the spectrum, to ensure that any complaint or misconduct by an advocate will be dealt in a proper and efficient manner, our Association had proposed the new Advocates (Inquiry Committee) Rules 2009. The Rules will make clear the role of Panel of Inquiry and with the establishment of a Disciplinary Fund it will provide the necessary funding to defray the costs and expenses of Inquiry Committee in the discharge of its functions. Further, it will give The Inquiry Committee the power to makes such rules and regulations to investigate and also conduct investigation upon receiving any complaints, before a hearing by an Inquiry Committee.
24. At this juncture, I would like to call upon Your Lordship Chief Judge of High Court of Sabah and Sarawak and the Honourable , the State Attorney General of Sarawak to give your utmost consideration to our 4 proposals .We hope and look forward for the aforesaid Rules to come into force in year 2011.
The Judiciary and Relationship between the Bench and Bar25. My lord, I must say that the level of cooperation between the Bar and Bench in Sarawak has always been very good with regular meetings being held between them. The recent example was in respect of your lordship’s proposal for co mediation by the judge and accredited mediators.
26. The tradition of dining with visiting Judges from the Federal Court, Court of Appeal and the High Court will still be maintained in 2011 which will continue to give opportunity for our members to interact and get to know our judges in a less formal setting.
27. Your Lordship, For Year 2010, we sense there is certain degree of calmness in Courts compared to the previous year.
28. During the ceremony of Opening the Legal Year 2010, our past President, Mr. Frank Tang had voiced certain concerns in the new tracking system and had called for a fine tuning of the system.
29. We are pleased that most of our concerns have been addressed. There were clear efforts made towards improvement of the system. This is certainly a credit to Your Lordship’s administration.
30. But having said, there are still unresolved problems faced by lawyers in their daily performance of their duties in court, such as problems in locating which particular S.A.R, session court judge or Magistrate are hearing the case, and in which courtroom they are sitting. If lawyers face such problems, imagine those litigants appearing in person.
31. Also, the regularity that cases have been called up or brought forward, usually at short notice, for mentions have resulted in unnecessary attendances in Court, and usually with no new development having arisen since the last mention.
Computerization in Court32. Since year 2007, we have seen the Judiciary in Sarawak embarking on an aggressive computerization program .The Advocates Association has always been supportive of this venture, and in fact were joint stakeholders in the initial computerization in courtrooms back in 2004.. We believe that this program has significantly contributed to the improvement of the Administration of Justice in Sarawak. Hence, we would like to see the Government continuing to finance the program mainly to defray the cost from being wholly passed on to the litigants.
33. The most recent implementation of the program is the introduction of e-filing system. However, though innovative, the new system had not been highly utilized by the members of the legal profession in Sarawak mainly for the reason that the Court Complex is readily accessible and manual filing can be done for the entire filing exercise to be completed in one visit/transaction.
34. My lord, we are of the view and, indeed quite confident, that if e- payment is introduced to complement e-filing with the form being made simpler, this will encourage more legal firms to use the system. A good example is the Video Conferencing which has now been well accepted by our members due to its time and cost saving aspects.
35. My Lord, we look forward to any new innovative program introduced by the Court in the future and we hope that the Court will continue to engage us and to hear our views in engendering the success of the programs.
My lord and my Lady,
Call For the Association to be elevated as a Statutory Body36. Lastly , but not least, over the years, our past Presidents have called for our Association to be elevated to a Statutory Body.
So far there has not been any response to our representation.
37. Being statutory body with compulsory membership it will, enable us to be more effective in regulating our members, enable us to play a wider and more effective role in improving the standard of the Bar in the administration of Justice . Further, it will help us substantially in our effort to improve the standard of conduct and address the many shortcomings arising from being a voluntary society under the Societies Act 1966, such as lack of funding and other resources required to administer a full fledge professional body for advocates in Sarawak .
38. Hence, on this auspicious occasion, I urge the Federal Attorney General Chambers to seriously consider our request to amend the Advocates Ordinance of Sabah and Sarawak to allow our Association to become a statutory body.
39. In conclusion, I would like to quote a simple passage from The Institutes of Justinian:
40. “These are the precepts of the Law: to live honourably; to injure nobody: and to render every man his due ”
41. On this day, I, on behalf of all the members of the Sarawak Bar renew our pledge to give our unconditional support and effort in upholding the Rule of Law and the smooth administration of Justice in Sabah and Sarawak .
………………………………….
Khairil Azmi B. Haji Mohamad Hasbie
The President of
Advocates’ Association of Sarawak
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Circular No 110/2012: Seminar on Introduction to ICC Arbitration: An Insight into the 2012 ICC Rules
