Bar Council asked to submit proposal to revamp act
PUTRAJAYA: The Attorney-General’s Chambers (A-GC) has urged the Bar Council to submit a proposal to revamp the Legal Profession Act 1976 so that it will be more holistic.
This was revealed by Bar Council president George Varughese, following a meeting with Attorney-General (A-G) Tommy Thomas here yesterday.
He said the move to revamp the act had received support from the A-G.
“He (Thomas) also hoped that the cooperation between the A-GC and the Bar Council would be enhanced in terms of information sharing and ethics,” he said.
Varughese said at the same time, the A-G had also sought the Bar Council’s input in reviewing some of the laws, including the Sedition Act, Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (Poca) and Security Offences (Special Measures ) 2012 (Sosma).
“In fact, the A-G had also stated that the Anti-Fake News Act 2018 will be abolished,” he said.
He said he also discussed the merger of the National Legal Foundation (YBGK) and the Legal Aid Department (JBG) to enable the legal aid responsibility to be fully carried out by the government.
“We also proposed for the establishment of a free legal commission to provide feedback on laws to be tabled in Parliament.”
On the possible conflict of interest involving the A-G and the cases he had previously dealt with while in private practice, the Bar Council was informed that in such instances, it would be dealt with by the solicitor-general without the involvement of Thomas.