There is a sense of injustice that seems to confront all those who happen to have the misfortune to sit for the Certificate of Legal Practice qualifying exam. From the numerous complaints that have been reported, it is quite obvious that the CLP board has a hidden motive to deliberately fail those overseas law graduates who are mandated to sit for this exam before they can practice here.
There is an unsavoury aspect of the prerequisite making it compulsory for overseas graduate to sit for this professional exam when local graduates are exempted. By implication, is it the CLP board's opinion that the local graduates are better trained then their overseas counterpart?
The most unsavoury aspect of the CLP exam is that it is shrouded in mystery. There must be a reason why only 10% of the candidates pass this exam. If indeed the 90% cof the candidates did badly, then surely they are entitled to know how and in what manner they had performed badly.
Those that fail should have recourse to their marked papers on payment of a nominal fee and if necessary, have them remarked again on payment of a fee. At best, this would allow those who fail an opportunity to know where their shortcomings were and to ensure that it is not repeated.
The Bar Council is keeping a deafening silence on this issue which seems to affect a lot of future lawyers. It would be a great help if the Bar could make proper representation to the qualifying board to make the whole CLP examination process more transparent.