Powers of the Malaysian Bar

Recently, the news highlighted comments by Dato Mukriz, where he had urged Parliament to curtail the powers of the Bar.

The Malaysian Bar is not a body created by lawyers, but is created by an Act of Parliament. You will hear lawyers calling the Bar a 'Statutory Body', for it is by way of a Statute, ie the Legal Profession Act 1976, that the Bar was created.

The Bar Council on the other hand; is a council of 36 lawyers elected by lawyers in a 2 tier election to manage the administration of the Malaysian Bar. So it is incorrect to say lawyers are members of the Bar Council, as the Council is our 'Cabinet' and lawyers are members of the 'Malaysian Bar' not the Bar Council.

Sabah and Sarawak have separate Bars, and the lawyers practicing there are not members of the Malaysian Bar (notwithstanding the name).

The powers of the Bar are also governed by Section 42 of the Legal Profession Act.Section 42 (in summary) states the powers of the Bar to include:-

1. to uphold justice without due regard to its own interest;

2. to maintain and improve the standard of the legal profession;

3. where requested, to express views on matters affecting the legislation;

4. to protect and assist the public in matters related to the Law.

There are a few more powers listed in Section 42.

Even without Section 42, due to the nature of the legal profession, the powers listed above would be inherent in the Bar, for if the lawyers dont uphold justice, dont maintain their standards, dont protect the public (for legal matters), who else can and who else will?