The Certificate in Legal Practice (CLP) is a 9-month long post-graduate course and examination taken by foreign
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
graduates and graduates of Bachelor of Jurisprudence (Hons)/B.Juris (Hons) from
University of Malaya
The University of Malaya ( ms, Universiti Malaya, UM; abbreviated as UM or informally the Malayan University) is a public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest and highest ranking Malaysian institution of highe ...
and Bachelor of Legal Studies (Hons)/BLS (Hons) from
Universiti Teknologi MARA
The MARA Technological University (Malay: ''Universiti Teknologi MARA''; Jawi: اونيۏرسيتي تيكنولوڬي مارا; abbr. UiTM) is a public university based primarily in Shah Alam, Selangor. It was established to help rural Mal ...
, to become a qualified
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...
in
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
.
The examination is conducted by the Legal Profession Qualifying Board of Malaysia and is governed by the Legal Profession Act 1976. The Board allows degree holders from shortlisted universities in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, and
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
to sit for the examination. The Board also allows graduates from a shortlisted university to be exempted from this examination. Multimedia University in Melaka is the 1st private university in Malaysia obtaining exemption of CLP exam for its law graduates.
Like all law graduates, CLP graduates must proceed to read in chambers of a pupil master who has been in active practice in Malaysia for a total period of not less than 7 years. After completing nine (9) months of pupillage, the student may finally be
called to the
bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
and become a qualified lawyer.
History
The Certificate in Legal Practice was originally designed in 1984 only as a temporary stop-gap measure to assist those Malaysians who were not able to sit for the English Bar Finals Examinations. It was then a solution to those who can't apply to be a Barrister but ended up as another recognised legal qualification to be an advocate and solicitor in Malaysia.
Examination
Examinations are normally held around July each year. Every student is required to sit for five subject papers, namely, General Paper, Professional Practice, Evidence, Criminal Procedure, and Civil Procedure. The student must pass all papers to obtain the certificate. If a student fails one paper he or she may be given a conditional pass and be allowed to resit that subject two more times. However, if a student failed in two or more papers, he must sit for the whole examination again to obtain the certificate. Each student is allowed to sit for the examination four times.
The Legal Profession Qualifying Board only sets the examination and does not provide classes to prepare the candidate for the examination. Classes were initially conducted by the Faculty of Law,
University of Malaya
The University of Malaya ( ms, Universiti Malaya, UM; abbreviated as UM or informally the Malayan University) is a public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest and highest ranking Malaysian institution of highe ...
and later
Faculty of Law, Universiti Teknologi MARA but the task was subsequently delegated to private colleges only. Three of the major institutions that offer tuition for the CLP in Kuala Lumpur are Brickfields Asia Colleg
Advance Tertiary College (formerly Kemayan ATC), and HELP University. ATC also offers the course in its Penang Campus.
Criticism and controversies
The examination is extremely rigorous in that it has a very low passing rate of between 10% to 20% each year. This is due to the extremely high standard imposed by the CLP Board to ensure that only the best candidates go on to qualify and practice as lawyers.
The CLP board has pointed out, among other things, in an article published in The Star on 24 September 2008 as well as in its CLP Subject Guide 2008 issued to candidates, that "The examination is not a test of memory function by the candidates. It is the mediocre candidates who resort to regurgitation of information memorized by them", thereby leading to the low pass rates annually.
The Professional Practice paper, for example, covers Land Law, Probate and Administration of Estates, Bankruptcy and Winding Up, Ethics of the Legal Profession, and Advocacy. Any person familiar with legal education would understand that Land Law is among the bulkiest subjects.
On 15 April 2019, the Legal Profession Qualifying Board added Legal Profession Act 1976, Contracts Act 1950, Specific Relief Act 1950, Civil Law Act 1956 and Insolvency Act 1967 and the Rules to the list of Statutes permitted. The candidates are now allowed to bring the following statutes for the respective papers:-
However, candidates are still denied access to many relevant Statutes (Acts of Parliaments) during the exams, such as the Companies Act 2016, Winding Up Rules 1997, Probate and Administration Act 1959, Legal Profession (Practice & Etiquette) Rules 1978, Legal Profession (Publicity) Rules, and many more.
In 2007, the then CLP Director, Khalid Yusoff, was jailed three months for forgery and cheating in the July 2001 CLP examination "master list". In May 2010, he was freed by the Court of Appeal.
[http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/5/28/courts/6353135&sec=courts]
References
External links
Malaysian Bar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Certificate In Legal Practice (Malaysia)
Bar examinations
Law of Malaysia
Legal education in Malaysia
Practice of law