The Malaysian Academy of Law, through which it is hoped that higher legal standards can be achieved, will finally become a reality by the end of this year, almost two years after the idea was first mooted.

It was during an interview with malaysiakini in December 2000 that the de facto law minister Dr Rais Yatim said that he would like to see the creation of such an academy to inculcate a strong collegiate feeling as well as to impose high standards of professional ethics.

We would like to see the creation of the law academy  for everyone to congregate and not to be cocooned all the time. There are some departmental framework we would like to create so that it becomes a society and they (the judges) could have their own programme with scholarships, internship, welfare, to mix with the other law-related personnel, said Rais then.

He added that a similar Singapore law academy, which the local one will be modeled upon, has worked very well.

It was reported today that the bill to the creation of the Academy of Law has been approved by the Cabinet on March 6 and will probably be tabled in the next Parliament session in June.

"I would like to see the Academy set up by the end of this year, Rais was quoted as saying in the New Straits Times .

Among the functions of the academy, as listed by the bill are to promote and maintain high standards in the practice of law, to promote the advancement and dissemination of legal knowledge and to promote legal research and the reform and development of laws.

The academy is also to provide consultancy and other services relating to laws and legal systems and to consider recommendations and proposals referred by the Bar Council.

Defending its turf

However, people within the legal fraternity are already complaining that the functions as outlined by the bill are too wide and can be freely interpreted.

Other concerns are that these functions could usurp the powers and roles of some existing bodies, especially the 10,000-strong Malaysian Bar.

Perhaps it was this concern that led the Malaysian Bar to express its reservations over the Academy.

The Bar has grounds to be fearful  in the past, the government, whenever it is irritated by the Bar, would threaten to expand the membership of the Bar to include government lawyers and legal professors.

Such a move will definitely bring about the end to whatever independence the Bar enjoys at present.

Now, with the Academy coming into the picture, the Bar obviously has to defend its turf.

At the 11th Malaysian Law Conference last year, Bar Council chairperson Mah Weng Kwai said the council viewed some of the objectives of the Academy as stated in the bill as incompatible with the provisions of the Legal Profession Act. The act provided for the establishing of the Bar as well as its objects and powers.

The Bar had also submitted a memorandum to Rais stating that while the council is not opposed to the establishment of an academy in principle, it is against the various provisions as set out in the draft bill.

It must be noted, too, that the judiciary, on the other hand, had supported the idea of an academy from the beginning. Chief Justice Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah had said that the Academy will be the place for everyone involved in the judiciary to meet and exchange ideas.

The Singaporean lesson

There are also fears among the legal fraternity that this government initiated Academy will end up being a government stooge, doing nothing more that dictating legal policies which are in favour of the government.

The fact that the local Academy is to be based upon the Singaporean model is one reason why such a feeling prevails.

The creation of the Singaporean Law Academy in 1990 came about following an estranged relationship between the Singapore Law Society and the government.

In 1986, the society president Francis T Seow was in a bitter battle with the then Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew over a government legislation to restrict the circulation of foreign publications carrying critical analysis of Singapore politics.

The government subsequently subpoenaed and severely reprimanded the entire Law Society Council over their continuous opposition to the new law.

In the ensuing battle between Lee and the Society, the former was quoted as saying that It is my job as prime minister in charge of the government to put a stop to politicking in professional bodies. If you want to politick, come out . . . You want to politick, you form your own party . . . You think you can be smarter than the government and outsmart it, well, if you win, you form the government. If I win, we have got a new Law Society. It is as simple as that.

It must be noted that Lee won the challenge and promptly started the ball rolling to set up a new Academy of Law which was passed by Parliament on Aug 11, 1988, and came into force on Nov 1, the same year. The Academys governing body was almost exclusively comprised of government appointees.

This must be the fear factor for the Malaysian Bar now. Perhaps with the new Academy, the government has finally found a way to limit the Bars role without having to totally revamp the body.

K Kabilan is a member of the malaysiakini team.