Is Sarawak law group upset over nothing?

Former Malaysian Bar president Khutubul Zaman Bukhari.

PETALING JAYA: Former Malaysian Bar president Khutubul Zaman Bukhari has questioned whether a lawyers’ group in Sarawak is unaware that the Legal Profession Qualifying Board cannot impose its decisions outside Peninsular Malaysia.

He told FMT he was surprised that the Sibu chapter of the Advocates Association of Sarawak (AAS) was complaining against the board’s decision not to recognise the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC).

“I don’t understand why the AAS is upset,” he said. “The board only determines entry qualifications for practice in the peninsula. It does not have power in Sabah and Sarawak.”

Khutubul Zaman, who led the Malaysian Bar between 2003 and 2005, was commenting on statements made at a press conference on Saturday by AAS chairman David Kuok and the leader of SUPP’s Dudong branch, Wong Ching Yong.

Kuok and Wong said they were upset by the board’s decision. They noted that it meant law graduates who studied for their degrees after receiving their UEC could not qualify for the Certificate in Legal Practice (CLP).

Wong said the decision was “unfair and prejudicial”, pointing out that the UEC had been recognised by the Sarawak government since 2012.

“We are also of the view that the decision may have been determined without the full knowledge of the members of the qualifying board,” he added. “In other words, it came as a decision of some civil servants.”

Kuok, speaking later to FMT, said the decision was a “strange” one and the board needed to review it.

He asked why the board was interested in qualifications that candidates received before they got their law degrees.

“They should be considered competent enough since they have received their degrees,” he said.

According to a notice on the board’s website, the decision against recognising the UEC as equivalent to SPM or STPM was made in 2005. Those who wish to sit for the CLP need at least two pass grades in the STPM or A-Levels.

Kuok said the board ought to recognise that “many things” had changed since 2005. He cited Sarawak’s recognition of the UEC as an example.
The board is composed of the Attorney-General, the Malaysian Bar president, two judges and an academic nominated by the government.

Lawyers in Peninsular Malaysia are regulated by the Malaysian Bar. The equivalents in East Malaysia are the Sabah Law Association and the Advocates Association of Sarawak. -FMT