The Bar Council has called on its 10,000 members to pass a resolution to strongly oppose the passing of the Malaysian Law Academy Bill 2002 in its Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) which will be held on May 31.

In a circular last week from secretary Mohd Sofian Abdul Razak, the council urged members to attend the EGM and pass the resolution because "the bill has been perceived as an attempt to undermine the independence of the council and the Malaysian Bar".

The circular, dated May 18, stressed that the council plans to "resolve to continuously oppose any move which will undermine the independence of the Malaysian Bar or hinder it from performing its duties and functions in the administration of justice".

The council also hopes that members will declare that the bill usurps the power of the Malaysian Bar under the Legal Profession Act 1976 (LPA) and ignores the council's powers and duties to regulate its own affairs and members.

The council is seeking an unanimous agreement from its members to object the bill or any other legislation amending the LPA and to call upon the government to engage the Bar in a dialogue on the proposed bill.

The council felt that these motions must be passed as the bill failed to consider any of the council's opinions on the establishment of the academy as stated in a memorandum dated Aug 9, 2001 which was submitted to the government.

The body also claimed that the bill "endorsed elitism within its ranks", failed to define the powers and functions of the academy clearly and duplicated the powers of the provisions governing matters of discipline and continuing legal education as provided in the LPA.

It also informed lawyers that the court registry has agreed that any application for the postponement of cases fixed on May 31 will be allowed.

Official call

Meanwhile, council president Mah Weng Kwai today confirmed that the circular was distributed to members and expressed hope that they will vote to pass the listed motions.

"Once the motions are passed, we will make an official call to the government to first consider our views before the academy is established.

"We feel that the academy should concentrate on legal research and expedition rather than a regulatory body," he told malaysiakini .

Mah, who is participating in the Bar-Bench games in Sabah, said he would also discuss the issue with Sabah Lawyers Association president Lawrence Chong and Sarawak Lawyers Association president Frank Tang.

Similarly, Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee chairperson Ragunanth Kesavan said it is important for all members to support the council in opposing the bill as it may have serious ramifications.

He claimed the bill's proposal for the compulsory membership for all advocates and solicitors, regardless of whether they practise or not, seems to violate the constitutional freedom of association.

"Further to this, members are required to pay annual fees to be determined by a senate and monies collected and accounts, although would be distributed to members, would not be open to scrutiny," he said.

Legal action

Yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Rais Yatim who is also de facto law minister said the government will proceed with the tabling of the bill in Parliament this July, even if there are objections from the Bar.

Responding to this, lawyer P Uthayakumar said that if the minister (Rais) failed to respect the overwhelming objections raised by the lawyers on the bill, then "we should consider suing the government".

"Let the court decide on the validity of the Academy," he told malaysiakini .

He added that the Law Academy proposed by the bill would be suitable only for non-practising law professionals like academicians, researchers and government officers.

"The council and its members should be allowed to remain independent and self-regulatory. The system has been tried, tested and proven and we have no problem that could not be resolved. It's good for non-practising law professionals but leave us (lawyers) alone," he said.