Much has been expressed in the media about judicial misconduct. But what about the other side of the coin? If the Bar Council would care to take an interest, I'm sure it would discover numerous complaints lodged against lawyers themselves.

In fact, the Council makes it very difficult for us to even lodge a report against an allegedly errant lawyer. You have to pay RM100 just to lodge a complaint and there is no guarantee that your complaint will be taken into consideration at all.

Next, if the Bar Council's disciplinary board decides there is a case, guess what? The errant lawyer is not obliged to respond to the board, which is widely known to be toothless. Even with the setting of an investigating tribunal, the board kindly allows the errant lawyer time to respond. Lots of time, in fact, so it is no surprise cases before the board take decades to resolve.

Lawyers should not go about blaming judges for this and that. Being educated in the same field, they should first take care of the black sheep in their own backyard first.

I have personally lodged a complain against a corrupt lawyer and that was in November 2005. But we are not experts in law, so who would care for us?

If the appointment of judges requires a commission, I would suggest that lawyers too are vetted by a commission before they are allowed to practice.

I would also ask the Bar Council to publish the action taken on complaints against lawyers and their firms on a monthly basis for the general public to be aware of. After all, the council frequently advocates transparency in almost every other institution. Why not begin at home?