SLS signs MoU with Aussie law college

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Law Society (SLS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the College of Law of Australia (COL) on November 23 for the purposes of a shared commitment to ongoing curriculum development and cooperation in delivering career long legal education and training programmes to meet the needs of the legal profession in Sabah for the next five years.

SLS president Brenndon Keith Soh said the MoU is timely in view of the intended introduction of a continuing professional development (CPD) program for the lawyers in Sabah through rules to be made by the SLS pursuant to Section 17 of the Advocates Ordinance.

He said this professional development will include the SLS and COL collaborating on curriculum development, education technology and continuing legal education; the COL providing the SLS with a complimentary online CPD programme to support the introduction of mandatory CPD; the COL providing SLS access to its online learning platforms to support the collaborative programmes and COL providing a Centre for Legal Innovation.

“The SLS recognises that it is imperative for lawyers to keep up to date with the evolving laws. Similarly it is equally important that the public have confidence in the profession,” said Brenndon in a statement yesterday.

Providing for CPD in the legal profession of Sabah will support these objectives.

“Furthermore, not only will lawyers gain useful legal knowledge from a speaker but they will be able to learn from each other by providing a platform to share their experiences.

“There will certainly be benefits of networking between lawyers of similar and different practice areas,” he added.

The SLS joins a number of other legal institutions that have signed similar collaborations with the COL, such as the Law Society of Hong Kong, the Singapore Law Society, the Malaysian Bar Council, InterPacific Bar Association and the Law Society of England and Wales.

The COL offers a range of legal programs (both online and onsite) such as post graduate specialisation, a Masters of Laws (Applied Law) in Malaysian legal practice, professional development and legal business management among others.

Anyone keen to explore these opportunities may contact the SLS at admin@sabahlawsociety.org or view the COL website at www.collaw.com.

At the MoU signing ceremony, from right: COL Asean+ 6 Program director Raphael Tay, SLS president Brenndon Soh, COL Asia Pacific director Peter Tritt, and SLS vice president Roger Chin.