Lawyer held for being absent, Bar Council expresses concern

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The Bar Council today expressed concern over the arrest of a lawyer for failing to appear at the Syariah High Court in Ipoh last Wednesday.

The warrant of arrest was issued against Amran Arif by the court under Section 37 (b) of the Criminal Procedure (Syariah) Code 1994, Perak.

According to council chairperson Mah Weng Kwai (photo), Section 37 (b) o­nly applied to cases where the accused himself is absent from court and does not apply to the counsel for the accused.

"In cases where a lawyer is absent in court without prior notice, the court may postpone the case to another date, when it may then obtain an explanation from the lawyer for his failure to appear in court," he said in a statement.

Cancel the warrant

Alternatively, he said, the court may proceed with the case in the absence of the lawyer.

"If the previous conduct of the lawyer in being absent without prior notice has been such as to amount to contempt of court, the court may cite him or her for contempt or lodge a complaint with the disciplinary board," he added.

Mah said the Bar Council is of the view that the mere absence of an advocate and solicitor in a court proceeding "cannot form the basis of an arrest, and any arrest is wrong in law".

In view of the this, he added that the council called upon the Syariah High Court to cancel the warrant of arrest against the lawyer.



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