Circular No 181/2012 Dated 15 Aug 2012
You may cut & paste the below address for the soft copy of the above:
http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=3827&Itemid=332
To Members of the Malaysian Bar:
Sijil Annual 2013
Pursuant to part III of the Legal Profession Act 1976, Practising Certificate and Sijil Annual shall be renewed annually.
Members can obtain the Form of Application for Sijil Annual 2013 and the Application Form for Practising Certificate 2013 (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Application Forms”) by the following means:
(1) Download the attachments that come with this circular; or
(2) Download a copy of the Application Forms from the Malaysian Bar website under the About Us>Membership>Sijil Annual tab; or
(3) Collect a copy from their respective State Bar Committee (Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Members may also collect their Application Forms from the Bar Council Secretariat).
A General
(1) To enable the Bar Council Secretariat to process your Application Forms, Members are advised to do the following before submitting the Application Forms:
(a) Ensure the following payments have been made:
(i) 2012 Bar Council Subscription: RM450;
(ii) 2012 Bar Council Building Fund: RM100;
(iii) 2012 Bar Council Legal Aid Fund: RM100;
(iv) 2012 Bar Council Sports Fund: RM10;
(v) 2012 Bar Council LawCare Fund: RM100;
(vi) 2013 Bar Council Compensation Fund: RM100;
(vii) 2013 Bar Council Discipline Fund: RM60; and
(viii) Penalty pursuant to section 46(6) of the Legal Profession Act 1976 (if applicable): RM450.
Subscription of RM450 for 2012 was to be paid on or before 30 June 2012. In the event this payment was not made before 30 June 2012 and the Member was in practice from 1 Jan to 30 June 2012, or any part thereof, an additional penalty payment of RM450 has to be made pursuant to section 46(6) of the Legal Profession Act 1976.
(b) Obtain the Professional Indemnity Insurance Cover 2013 from Jardine Lloyd Thompson Sdn Bhd (“JLT”). Please contact JLT directly for all enquiries pertaining to Professional Indemnity Insurance at:
Jardine Lloyd Thompson Sdn Bhd
Suite 10.2 10th Floor Faber Imperial Court
21A Jalan Sultan Ismail
50250 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2723 3388
Fax: 03-2723 3301
www.myPII.com.my
Please take note that Members are no longer required to forward the receipts for the payments in item A(1)(a) and the Professional Indemnity Insurance Schedule 2013 from JLT with their Application Forms, unless requested otherwise, as the Bar Council Secretariat has upgraded its system and is able to check online that the formalities have been complied with.
(2) To enable the Bar Council Secretariat to deal with your application expeditiously, kindly submit your Application Forms with the supporting documents duly arranged in the order listed in the SA Application 2013 Checklist attached herewith, not later than 15 Oct 2012 (Monday).
(3) If a Member were to change firm after submission of the Application Forms but prior to the issuance of his or her Sijil Annual and Practising Certificate 2013, a fresh set of Application Forms should be submitted.
B Documents to be Submitted for Application of Sijil Annual and Practising Certificate 2013
The following documents are to be submitted for the application of Sijil Annual and Practising Certificate 2013:
(1) SA Application 2013 Checklist duly completed (please refer to Attachment 1);
(2) Cheques for the payments stated in A(1)(a) only if the payments have not been made:
(a) In favour of “Bar Council Compensation Fund” for the year 2013 in the sum of RM100;
(b) In favour of “Bar Council Discipline Fund” for the year 2013 in the sum of RM60;
(c) In favour of “Bar Council” in the sum of RM760 (for 2012 Bar Council Subscription RM450, 2012 Bar Council Building Fund RM100, 2012 Bar Council Legal Aid Fund RM100, 2012 Bar Council Sports Fund RM10, and 2012 Bar Council LawCare Fund RM100); and
(d) In favour of “Bar Council” in the sum of RM450 if penalty payment is due.
Bar Council also accepts payment via:
(a) Internet banking (www.cimbclicks.com.my)
Access www.cimbclicks.com.my and log in with your user ID and password to make payment online.
(b) Direct Access Malaysian Bar Credit Card (Visa/MasterCard)
Complete the Direct Access Malaysian Bar Credit Card Payment Authorisation Letter and submit it by fax to 03-2031 8385 or by email to finance@malaysianbar.org.my.
For more information about making payment, kindly refer to Circular No 072/2012 dated 9 Apr 2012.
Should you have any enquiries, kindly call 03-2050 2050, press (3) for Finance and Accounts Department and press (1) again for enquiries on subscription.
(3) Application Form for Practising Certificate 2013 duly completed in capital letters (please refer to Attachment 2);
(4) Form of Application for Sijil Annual 2013 duly completed (please refer to Attachment 3);
In the form, each Member is required to indicate:
(a) the actual address where he or she is practising at (at the section of the form that states “State the address/es at which you practise or intend to practise”); and
(b) all address(es) of the other offices of the firm, if applicable (at the section of the form that states “And at branch office/s”).
We urge all Members to provide us with their handphone number(s) and email address(es) to enable the Bar Council to update its membership database and so as not to miss out on urgent SMS blasts and e-circulars.
(5) State Bar Committee Certificates for:
(a) main office; and
(b) branch office(s) (only applicable to sole proprietor/partner with branch office(s));
confirming that there are no arrears in subscription(s) for 2012.
Where a firm has offices in more than one state, the sole proprietor or all partners of that firm must be a member of all the relevant State Bar Committees where the offices are located, and is/are required to submit the certificates confirming that there are no arrears in subscriptions.
(6) Statutory Declaration by:
(a) sole proprietor/partner (please refer to Attachment 4): or
(b) legal assistant/consultant (please refer to Attachment 5);
(7) Accountant’s Report 2011 applicable to Members who were sole proprietors/partners from 1 Jan to 31 Dec 2011, or any part thereof, and maintained client account(s) for:
(a) main office; and
(b) branch office(s) (only applicable to sole proprietor/partner with branch office(s));
Each sole proprietor/partner is to submit a copy of the Accountant’s Report for the period from 1 Jan to 31 Dec 2011 as an attachment to the Statutory Declaration in addition to the report sent in by the Accountant, unless exempted by the Bar Council under rule 6 of the Accountant’s Report Rules 1960.
The Accountant’s Report is required to be issued under the name of individual members.
Members who have more than one office are required to ensure that the Accountant’s Report covers all their offices and/or branches or separate Accountant’s Report are submitted for each and every office.
Applicants who are applying for the issuance of Sijil Annual and Practising Certificate for the first time must also submit the following documents:
(1) Two copies of the Order of Admission as an Advocate and Solicitor certified by the Registrar of the High Court of Malaya; and
(2) Copy of the official receipt of the RM200 admission fee paid to the Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board.
C Additional Documents to be Furnished
The following additional documents are to be furnished:
(1) Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 Compliance Report for Legal Firms Confirmation Form (please refer to Attachment 6)
Bank Negara Malaysia (“BNM”), the competent authority under the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 (“AMLATFA”), has sought Bar Council’s assistance to urge legal firms to complete and submit an AMLATFA Compliance Report on BNM’s e- SURVEY portal on a yearly basis. The Compliance Report is firm based and only requires a partner/managing partner/sole proprietor selected by the firm to make a submission on behalf of the entire firm on BNM’s website.
Legal assistants or consultants are not required to complete this form. Firms that commenced operation on or after 1 July 2012 are not required to complete and submit the AMLATFA Compliance Report.
Should you have any enquiries, kindly contact Christina Gomez (03-2050 2087; christina@malaysianbar.org.my) or Mohd Faizal Mahat (03-2050 2088).
(2) Continuing Professional Development (“CPD”) Record Sheet (please refer to Attachment 7)
At the 66th Annual General Meeting of the Malaysian Bar held on 10 Mar 2012, a resolution regarding a mandatory Continuing Professional Development (“CPD”) Scheme for the Malaysian Bar was adopted. To facilitate the transition to the mandatory CPD Scheme for Members of the Bar, the CPD Scheme will be implemented on a voluntary basis for the first two years.
A CPD cycle is a 24-month cycle, and the first cycle will run from 1 July 2012 until 30 June 2014. Those who are in practice on 1 July 2012 will be expected to accumulate 16 CPD points by 30 June 2014. Those who come into practice or resume practice after 1 July 2012 will be required to accumulate a pro-rated number of CPD points during this cycle, as indicated in the table below:
Date of Coming into Practice
Pro-rated CPD Points
Before or from 1 July to 30 Sept 2012
16
1 Oct 2012 to 31 Dec 2012
14
1 Jan 2013 to 31 Mar 2013
12
1 Apr 2013 to 30 June 2013
10
1 July 2013 to 30 Sept 2013
8
We ask Members of the Bar to return the duly completed CPD Record Sheet with the number of points they have earned from 1 July 2012.
To know more about the CPD Scheme, please refer to Circular No 134/2012 dated 22 June 2012. Should you have any enquiries, kindly contact Vilashini Vijayan (03-2050 2095; vila@malaysianbar.org.my) or Mohd Fazli Rosman (03-2050 2105).
D Collection Letters
The “Track Your Firm’s Sijil Annual/Practising Certificate Online” feature on the Malaysian Bar website was introduced on 1 Sept 2011, to assist firms with the collection process. The feature will enable an authorised representative of a firm to access the following information:
(a) Whether the Sijil Annual/Practising Certificate 2013 of each of the firm’s practitioners is ready for collection;
(b) For firms in Kuala Lumpur or Selangor, whether the Sijil Annual/Practising Certificate 2013 of each of the practitioners has been collected by the authorised representative; and
(c) For firms in states other than Labuan, Kuala Lumpur or Selangor, whether the Sijil Annual/Practising Certificate 2013 of each of the firm’s practitioners has been sent by the Bar Council Secretariat to the respective State Bar Committees.
To date, 1,099 firms have been issued with user identification login (“user ID”) and password to access this feature.
(1) The Bar Council Secretariat will send collection letters to firms when the Practising Certificates of the firms’ practitioners are ready for collection (“Collection Letter”).
(2) An authorised representative (“Authorised Collector”) of the firm is required to bring along an authorisation letter (“Authorisation Letter”) from the firm evidencing that the person is authorised to collect the Practising Certificate(s), together with the Collection Letter. Upon presentation of proof of identification, the Practising Certificate(s) will be released to the Authorised Collector.
(3) Practising Certificate would not be released to individual Member unless the Member is also the Authorised Collector.
For more details, please refer to Circular No 155/2012 dated 19 July 2012. Should you have any enquiries, kindly contact Hemalatha Subramaniam (03-2050 2167) or Sree Gayithiri Maruthuvellu (03-2050 2164), or send an email to tracksa@malaysianbar.org.my.
E Disciplinary and/or Injunction Proceedings
Members are reminded that those who wish to cease practice either on a permanent or temporary basis, are required to notify the Bar Council in accordance with section 31(2) of the Legal Profession Act 1976, and to comply with the Bar Council Rules on Cessation of, or Change in, Practice (“Rules”).
A copy of the Rules and the relevant forms can be obtained from the Bar Council Secretariat or downloaded from the Malaysian Bar website under the Resources>Frequently Used Forms>Membership tab.
Bar Council will institute disciplinary and/or injunction proceedings in 2013 against Members:
(1) from whom the Bar Council has not received the Sijil Annual and Practising Certificate 2013 Application Forms; or
(2) who have not been issued with Sijil Annual and Practising Certificates 2013 by 31 Jan 2013;
except against Members from whom the Bar Council has received their Notice of Cessation of Practice supported with a Statutory Declaration as prescribed under the Rules.
Any costs incurred by the Bar Council in filing the injunction proceedings shall be borne by the Member concerned.
Contact Persons at the Bar Council Membership Department
Should you require any clarification or assistance, kindly call 03-2050 2050, press (1) for Membership Department and press (1) again for Sijil Annual enquiries.
Thank you.
Tony Woon Yeow Thong
Secretary
Malaysian Bar
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