Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Rais Yatim, surprised over the Malaysian Bar's unanimous vote to sue the government over the proposed Academy of Law bill, said nothing can stop Parliament from passing the bill.

"I'm quite surprised by the extent of the lawyers' objection to the proposal. Perhaps they have looked at the bill with suspicion. To me, the intent was a novel one, where the Bar was consulted," he said in an immediate reaction to the unanimous decision at the Bar's extraordinary general meeting earlier today.

Rais said the government will be seeking legal advice from the Attorney-General's Chambers once the grounds for the objection against the proposed bill have been considered.

"I'll be very interested to know what action they can actually take. As far as I know, based on my constitutional law study, they cannot stop Parliament from passing the bill but they can challenge the validity of the law once it is passed," he said when asked to comment on the resolution.

A total of 2,078 lawyers attended the EGM which was convened specifically to discuss the Bar's stand on the academy, an idea first mooted by Rais in early 2000.

"I can't say anything more at this juncture because we need to know the grounds for the objection first, but the moment I get official notice of it, I will inform the AG's Chambers.

"I would not want to get too excited over this. We will look at it coolly in the context of nation-building," he said, adding that the AG's Chambers took two years to prepare the Bill.