Vote against draft Legal Profession Bill 2019, Sabah, S’wak MPs urged
MIRI: Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) has called on all the 56 members of Parliament (MPS) from the Borneo states (25 in Sabah and 31 in Sarawak) to vote against the draft Legal Profession Bill 2019 (LPB 2019), saying it will not bring any benefit to the two states.
SUPP secretary general Datuk Sebastian Ting Chiew Yew said the draft was done without any consultation or adequate consultation with the stakeholders; namely The Sabah Law Society (SLS) and The Advocates Association of Sarawak (AAS) and the state governments of Sabah and Sarawak.
“It was also done not in line with the Federal Constitution, against the spirit of the formation of Malaysia and against the safeguards for Sabah and Sarawak with the formation of Malaysia in 1963.
“SUPP is very shocked and appalled to read the draft of the Legal Profession Bill 2019 proposed by the Malaysia Bar Council and was circulated among the legal fraternity, since yesterday,” said Ting in a press statement yesterday evening.
He added the draft Legal Profession Bill 2019 in its present form must not be allowed and SUPP hoped all the 56 MPS from Sabah and Sarawak would vote against it if it is presented and tabled in Parliament for debate.
“Sabah and Sarawak should come together and be on the same page on this important matter, as the proposed draft of the LPB 2019 would have serious impact and consequences to the legal practices in both Sabah and Sarawak,” he stressed.
He said both AAS and SLS had just issued a joint statement dated April 27, 2019 that they were never consulted on this proposed draft Legal Profession Bill 2019 and that both categorically opposed the provisions containing both the extension of the Legal Profession Act 2019 (LPA 2019) and the repeal of the Advocates Ordinances of Sabah and Sarawak.
Ting, who is Piasau assemblyman, said it is indeed very disappointing that the Bar Council had chosen not to consult both SLS and AAS and urged the Bar Council to issue a statement to clarify their position
He stressed that fellow lawyers in Peninsular Malaysia should not take lawyers in Sabah and Sarawak for granted and should instead show mutual respect for each other, so that Malaysia can move further as one.
“We must reiterate this important fact that both the advocates ordinances of Sabah and Sarawak are pre-Malaysia ordinances and they are considered to be federal law.
”We are of the opinion that our respective Sabah and Sarawak DUNs (legislative assemblies) are proper legislative assemblies and authority to consider, amend and repeal our own ordinances as this had been one of our few safeguards during the formation of Malaysia,” he pointed out.