Five lawyers suspended, one struck off Roll of Advocates
KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Advocates Disciplinary Board (SADB) has suspended five lawyers and struck off one lawyer off the Roll of Advocates for misconduct.
SADB was established under the Advocates Ordinance (Sabah Cap 2) on July 1, 2017 to carry out disciplinary proceedings to deal with complaints of misconduct filed against lawyers practising in Sabah.
The board consists of a chairman, who currently is Datuk Douglas Primus, a retired High Court Judge; the president of the Sabah Law Society or the vice president as his alternate; and eight senior lawyers from Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan and Tawau.
Its secretariat is located on the ground floor of Kota Kinabalu Court Complex located at 1 Jalan Kebajikan, Kota Kinabalu and is open from Monday to Friday to attend to queries and receive complaints filed by the public.
SADB said in a statement yesterday that the filing of a complaint against a lawyer is by way of a completed registration form together with a statutory declaration, the format of which can be obtained from the secretariat.
Once the completed forms are received, the complaint process is set in motion and the complaint is sent to the lawyer to notify him of the complaint. Complaints filed into SADB are dealt by way of a hearing whereby the complainant and lawyer will be required to attend the hearing to make their representation before the SADB.
Lawyers are allowed to represent the parties at the hearing. After the hearing process is completed, the SADB then makes its decision, and if there are no merits to the complaint, it will be dismissed.
However, if the lawyer is found guilty of misconduct, the SADB may impose various types of penalties or punishments depending on the severity of the misconduct.
The types of punishments range from reprimand, fine, suspension or striking off the Roll of Advocates. The SADB may also in appropriate cases, in addition to its order of penalty or punishment, make an order for the return of monies held by the lawyer in his professional capacity.
However, it should be noted that other than the power to order restitution, the SADB has no powers to order the lawyer to pay damages to the complainant or to enforce any rights which the complainant may have against him.
In its consideration of whether there is professional misconduct, the Advocates Ordinance sets out 19 types of causes that will amount to misconduct, such as practising without a valid practising certificate, dishonesty or fraud, conviction of a criminal offence, charging of grossly excessive fees, etc.
Details of the decisions made by the SADB will be made available to the public on the website of the Sabah Law Society. In cases where a lawyer has been struck off the roll or suspended, an advertisement will be placed in the local newspaper providing notice of the same. Since last year, there have been 52 cases which have been filed to the SADB, most of which have been disposed with 12 complaints remaining that are still in the various stages of the complaint process.
For members of the public who have any queries or wish to file a complaint to the SADB, they can write to the secretariat by way of email at discipline@ sabahlawsociety.org or call 088221106.