BN man proposes AG as Bar Council president

KUALA LUMPUR: A lawmaker’s suggestion that the Attorney-General be appointed as Bar Council president created a stir at the Dewan today.

Datu Nasrun Datu Mansur (BN-Silam) said the move was to keep up with the times.

“The Bar Council must be independent and impartial.

“It is time that we moved forward and I propose that the Attorney-General be automatically appointed as Bar Council president.”

He said this while debating the Legal Profession (Amendment) Bill 2015 in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He felt the Bar Council had diverted from the original objective of looking after the welfare of lawyers.

“The Bar must come back to its original objective as to why it was formed to look after the welfare of lawyers.

“They should not get involved in politics as it is inappropriate.”

He added the Bar Council should refrain from making statements against the laws of the country as this would affect their integrity.

He cited the Singapore Law Society which is not allowed to comment or give their views on laws there unless requested by the government.

However, in response, M Kulasegaran (DAP-Ipoh Barat) objected to the move as the Bar Council had the right to uphold justice without fear or favour by expressing its views on issues.

While welcoming Datu Nasrun’s proposal, Kulasegaran said it had been mooted before but had not been successful.

“A similar proposal was made 10 to 15 years ago in a move to control the Bar Council.

“However, the Attorney-General shied away and did not want the post as it was subject to public scrutiny.”

A war of words subsequently erupted between Kulasegaran and Noh Omar (BN-Tanjung Karang) when the latter questioned the Bar Council’s election process and the lack of Malay representation in the committee.

“The Bar’s election process is questionable and an independent body should be appointed to conduct it.”

Noh also felt there was a lack of Malay lawyers in the committee although 60% of the 16,000 registered lawyers were Malays.

Ahmad Fauzi Zahari (BN-Setiawangsa) asked if there should be a quota for the committee.

Kulasegaran defended the Bar Council’s election process, adding that the appointments were based on merit.

“The Bar is not the Malay Civil Service,” he said.

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