PARLIAMENT The government will study the need to amend the Legal Profession Act to allow attorney-general to become Bar Council chairperson automatically, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nancy Shukri.

She was responding to a proposal by Nasrun Mansor (BN-Silam) during her winding-up speech on the debate of the Legal Profession (Amendment) Bill.

"I want to touch on the issue brought by Silam (MP). He proposes that the AG be appointed as Bar Council chairperson.

"For the time being, the chairperson of Bar Council is chosen through votes. If the proposal is accepted, then we need to amend 166 Act (Legal Profession Act).

"This needs to be discussed in depth. The government will look at it thoroughly and present it to the relevant parties," she added.

Earlier, Nasrun had said it was high time for the government to amend the law so that the AG can be appointed as Bar Council chairperson automatically.

He said the Bar had gone overboard by threatening to challenge the attorney-general Mohamed Apandi's decision in court.

He wanted the council to stay out of politics, be free, professional and refrain from issuing political statements.

Bar Council bashing session

The Legal Profession (Amendment Bill) sought the House to acknowledge the validity of the office bearers of the Bar's Council Disciplinary Board between Feb 17, 2013 and February 16 of 2015.

According to Nancy, this is done to prevent the crisis of law caused by those who are not satisfied with the Disciplinary Board's decision within the said period.

The amendment was needed as the previous amendment related to the Disciplinary Board tabled to Parliament in 2012, was only enforced two years later, she said.

Several BN lawmakers had used the debate as a Bar Council bashing session, with Nor Omar (BN-Tanjung Karang) questioning the lack of democracy in Bar Council elections as the candidates are not allowed to see the voting process.

He also alleged that Bar Council does not represent the legal community in general as only a small portion of lawyers attended its annual general meeting.

He asked too, if the Bar Council should set a quota to ensure that Malays are chosen as the Bar Council chairperson, as the organisation currently lacks Malay leadership.