The Legal Profession Qualifying Board will meet this Sunday to decide on the appeal by candidates who had their Certificate in Legal Practice results nullified recently, said Bar Council chairperson Mah Weng Kwai today.

Mah said this to some 200 CLP candidates at the council's office in Kuala Lumpur, according to several students who attended the meeting.

The executive committee of the Bar Council met earlier today and agreed to ask the board to reconsider its decision to nullify the July CLP examination and the October supplementary test.

The results were nullified after the board confirmed that the papers had leaked and candidates were told they would have to re-sit the examinations.

Shortly after the exco meeting, Mah attended a four-hour meeting with the board to discuss the appeals by the affected candidates.

In a statement issued after that, Mah who is also a member of the board, said the exco's decision will be discussed at the full council meeting on Saturday, a day before the board meets.

"The Bar Council exco also decided to call for the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry to carry out full investigation (on the leaks)," he said.

Necessary action

Last Thursday, board chairperson Ainum Mohd Saaid who is the outgoing Attorney General said the nullification was a difficult decision but was necessary to maintain the integrity of the examinations and law profession.

Ainum added the board will find ways to strengthen the security measures for future CLP examinations.

She also stressed the leaks in this year's examinations were real and that a committee headed by Mah has been set up to investigate the matter.

Meanwhile, Inspector-General of Police Norian Mai had said the case was solved with the arrest of two clerks of the examination board and several other graduates who possessed the leaked papers.

The 200-odd affected candidates are now seeking legal advice on how to cope with the situation. On Monday, one candidate filed a suit against the decision of the board.

Most of the candidates have started chambering and have been granted a short-call to appear in subordinate courts and the High Court to mention cases, six months before they are admitted to the bar.

The CLP examination is compulsory for foreign law graduates from England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand to qualify as advocates and solicitors in Malaysia.

Previous examinations have shown a passing rate of only about 30 percent. Some 900 students sat for this year's CLP examination and only 232 passed.

The examination consists of five papers: General Paper, Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, Evidence, and Professional Practice.

Candidates are allowed to sit for the examination for up to four times in order to pass all the papers. If they fail any of these papers, they may take the supplementary tests.