New Ruling Made Under Section 57(a) of the Legal Profession Act 1976: Moneylending Prohibited

To Members of the Malaysian Bar

New Ruling Made Under Section 57(a) of the Legal Profession Act 1976:
Moneylending Prohibited

Pursuant to section 57(a) of the Legal Profession Act 1976, Bar Council, at its recent meeting, passed the following new ruling:

Bar Council Ruling 14.26 Moneylending Prohibited


It is conduct unbefitting of an advocate and solicitor to charge interest on monies expended on his client’s behalf or on monies advanced for his client’s use, save for disbursements expended or advanced specifically or solely for the transaction or matter for which such advocate and solicitor has been retained to act, and provided that an invoice has been issued by the advocate and solicitor for such disbursements and the client has defaulted for 30 days in the payment of such invoice. It is also conduct unbefitting of an advocate and solicitor to engage or be involved, whether directly or indirectly, in the business of moneylending.

The rationale for the abovementioned ruling is as follows:

It is incompatible with the dignity and propriety of the legal profession for an advocate and solicitor to advance monies with interest, except in respect of disbursements expended or advanced by the advocate and solicitor solely for the transaction or matter which he or she has been retained to act, and provided that the advocate and solicitor has issued an invoice to his or her client for such disbursements and the client has failed to pay the invoice after 30 days. It is also incompatible with the dignity and propriety of the legal profession for an advocate and solicitor to engage or be involved in the business of moneylending.

Please be informed that the ruling will take effect immediately.

Please do not hesitate to contact Christina Gomez by telephone at 03-2050 2087 or by email at christina@malaysianbar.org.my, should you have any enquiries.

Thank you.

Tony Woon Yeow Thong
Secretary
Malaysian Bar

TERENGGANU BAR FAMILY DAY 2012... Retro (",)

TERENGGANU BAR FAMILY DAY 2012
DATE: 15 JUNE & 16 JUNE 2012
VENUE: SUTRA BEACH RESORT, SETIU TERENGGANU

TENTATIF PROGRAM

15hbJUN 2012 (Jumaat) :-

Time Event
12.00tghr –2.00ptg -Pendaftaran & Check In
(Makan tengahari tdk disediakan)

3ptg – 6.30ptg -Aktiviti Sesi Pertama
Antara Acara-Acara: (Dewasa Lelaki & Wanita)
(1) Kerbau Diheret Pulang
(2) Traditional Beach Soccer
(3) Panahan Arjuna
(4) Cinta bersemi di Tepian Pantai
8.00mlm–11.00mlm -BBQ Dinner / Pertandingan Dress terbaik “Retro: Nostalgia & Kemeriahan”
-Peserta yang berpakaian mengikut tema akan mendapat hadiah.


16hb Jun 2012 (Sabtu) :-

Time Event
7pg- 9pg Sarapan
Sarapan percuma adalah terhad kepada peserta yang menginap sahaja. (Percuma 2 dewasa)
Jika ada tambahan dewasa, bayaran sebanyak RM 20 dikenakan untuk dewasa, dan RM 11 untuk kanak-kanak.

9pg – 11pg Aktiviti Sesi Kedua;

Antara Acara-acara: Kanak-Kanak

Kanak-Kanak
(1) Mewarna
(2) Penyu Mencari Telur
(3) Belon “Kebaboo”
12tghri Bersurai

(IMPORTANT) Circular No. 092/2012 Dated 4 May 2012: Notice of EGM of Malaysian Bar

To Members of the Malaysian Bar and pupils in chambers

Notice of Extraordinary General Meeting of the Malaysian Bar (11 May 2012)

Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to Section 65(1) of the Legal Profession Act 1976 (“LPA”), the Bar Council will convene an Extraordinary General Meeting (“EGM”) of the Malaysian Bar, as follows:

Date : 11 May 2012 (Friday)
Time : 3:00 pm
Venue : Grand Ballroom, Sunway Putra Hotel (formerly known as the Legend Hotel), Sunway Putra Place, 100 Jalan Putra, 50350 Kuala Lumpur

Agenda:

(1) To discuss the motion in relation to the events of and surrounding the public rally on 28 Apr 2012 organised by BERSIH 3.0, and matters in connection therewith, proposed by Lim Chee Wee (Chairman, Bar Council), on behalf of the Bar Council, dated 4 May 2012; and

(2) Any other matters.

The motion will be circulated to Members soon.

In accordance with sections 65(4A) and 65(4B) of the LPA, the quorum shall be 500
Members of the Malaysian Bar, and the EGM shall be dissolved if a quorum is not present by 4:00 pm.

Members are urged to make every effort to attend the EGM so that the issues on the agenda may be effectively discussed by as many Members as possible.

We look forward to your participation and presence at the EGM on 11 May 2012.

Thank you.

Tony Woon Yeow Thong
Secretary
Malaysian Bar

(IMPORTANT; OPEN FOR DISCUSSION) Circular No. 061/2012 dated 19 March 2012: Draft Proposed Combined Rules-Summary of Substantive Changes

Mohon ahli2 respons atau komen berkenaan draft proposed combined rules yang dikemukakan oleh pihak Bar Council melalui Circular no.: 061/2012.

Untuk makluman, draft proposed combined rules adalah dibuat berdasarkan kepada Rules of High Court 1980 dengan dibuat modifikasi untuk membolehkannya digunapakai bersama-sama dengan Subordinate Court Rules, 1980.

Bersama-sama ini disertakan HTML iaitu ringkasan kepada Aturan-Aturan yang akan dipinda atau dicadangkan akan dipinda bagi memenuhi tujuan di atas.

Harap dapat kerjasama dan perhatian daripada ahli2 segera demi kebaikan bersama.

Sekian, harap maklum.

http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=3602&Itemid=332

(NEW & IMPORTANT) Continuing Professional Development (“CPD”) Scheme by Malaysian Bar (Beginning 01/07/2012)

Resolutions Adopted at the 66th Annual General Meeting of the Malaysian Bar

The 66th Annual General Meeting of the Malaysian Bar (“AGM”) was held at Sunway Putra Hotel, Kuala Lumpur on 10 Mar 2012 (Saturday).

The resolutions adopted at the AGM are as follows:

Resolution regarding mandatory Continuing Professional Development Scheme

Motion proposed by Dipendra Harshad Rai (Chairperson, Bar Council Professional Standards and Development Committee), on behalf of Bar Council, dated 27 Feb 2012.

Motion & CPD Guidelines (Appendix A)'s details @
http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=3568&Itemid=332

(As amended)

WHEREAS:

(a) the Bar Council Professional Standards and Development Committee (the “Committee”) has considered whether there is a need for the implementation of a mandatory Continuing Professional Development (“CPD”) Scheme for the Malaysian Bar;

(b) having considered international trends in favour of the implementation of such programmes for the purpose of practitioners of law and the context of, and circumstances relevant to, the Malaysian Bar, the Committee has come to the conclusion that the implementation of a mandatory CPD Scheme would be to the benefit of the Members of the Malaysian Bar; and

(c) the Committee has considered all the reservations or objections raised against the implementation of a mandatory CPD Scheme, and has prepared the CPD Guidelines (herein attached as Appendix A);

IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED THAT:

(a) the Malaysian Bar shall implement a mandatory CPD Scheme;

(b) to facilitate the transition to the mandatory CPD Scheme for Members of the Malaysian Bar, the CPD Scheme will be implemented on a voluntary basis for the first two years;

(c) the minimum number of CPD hours is 16 hours (units) in a 24-month cycle, obtainable by a variety of ways as listed in the CPD Guidelines;

(d) Bar Council be authorised to take all necessary steps towards the implementation of the CPD Scheme including, if considered necessary:

(i) adopting the CPD Guidelines;

(ii) accrediting courses, seminars, workshops, conferences and other appropriate events, for the purpose of ensuring programmes for the CPD Scheme;

(iii) organising courses, seminars, workshops, conferences and other appropriate events, for the purpose of ensuring programmes for the CPD Scheme;

(iv) putting in place measures to ensure participation in the CPD Scheme and to inculcate a culture of continuing professional development amongst Members; and

(v) doing all such other things that are incidental or conducive to the successful achievement or betterment of the CPD Scheme; and

(e) upon the completion of the two-year voluntary CPD Scheme, the Malaysian Bar is to decide the effective date of the implementation of the mandatory CPD Scheme.


The motion, as amended, was put to a vote and carried by a majority (321 votes in favour, 137 against, and nine abstentions).


Mohon kerjasama ahli-ahli untuk memberi sebarang komen/ pendapat/ cadangan/ lain-lain.

Terima kasih.

Azwan / Maya
Untuk & Bagi pihak Jawatankuasa Peguam Terengganu 2012/ 2013