Draft Bill seeks to ‘federalise’ legal profession – Junaidi
KUCHING: The draft Legal Profession Bill proposed by the Bar Council seeks to ‘ federalise’ the legal profession in the country, said Santubong member of parliament Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
He cautioned that the Bil l would not only affect lawyers in Sarawak and Sabah, but also the administrations of both states.
“At the moment, we have three legal profession jurisdictions – Malaya, Sarawak, and Sabah, governed by three sets of legislation and all regulating procedures.
“If this law is passed based on this Bill, the Ordinances of Sarawak and Sabah governing the legal profession would be repealed,” he explained yesterday.
He pointed out that the Advocates Association of Sarawak would be abolished under the Bill.
“That means also the two states of Sarawak and Sabah’s legal profession would practically lose control of the states’ legal practitioners and have no more authority over the legal profession as provided under the respective state Ordinances,” he said.
“In drafting this Bill have all the stakeholders – the state governments, the At torney Generals of the two states, and most important ly the legal practitioners from the two states been consulted?”
He stressed the Sarawak government and all Sarawak advocates with a practising certificate should be consulted in advance on this issue.
“Is this another attempt by Malaya through the backdoor to disregard Article 161B(1) of the Federal Constitution? Hope that this is not another attempt to bulldoze and take away our rights as Malaya did, like how they bulldozed many legislations in the states, abandoning the procedure set in the Federal Constitution,” Wan Junaidi said.
“I f there is no suf f icient consultation being made, I would say this is unconstitutional. Sarawakians must stand and be heard and listened to. We must protect the people’s rights and the sanctity of the Federal Constitution.”
He also stressed that the State Legislative Assembly ( DUN) has to pass the law if it is to be adopted.
Wan Junaidi cited Article 161B (1) of the Federal Constitution, which says, “In so far as any provision made by or under an Act of Parliament, by removing or altering a residence qualification confers a right to practice before a court in the States of Sabah and Sarawak or either of them on persons not previously having the right, that provision shall not come into operation until adopted in the State in question by an enactment of the legislature.”
When contacted, the Advocates Association of Sarawak confirmed members had seen such a document and would provide feedback to the authorities.