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PUPILLAGE IN PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

Pupillage under the Legal Profession Act 1976


The law governing pupillage in Peninsular Malaysia is provided in the Legal
Profession Act 1976 (hereinafter referred as LPA). 1 Pupillage in Sabah2 and Sarawak3 is
different from the Peninsular Malaysia, as the two states have autonomy in the legal
profession. Nevertheless, any Malaysian who is qualified under the LPA may be admitted to
the Bar pursuant to Part II of the Act.
Under s 10 of the LPA, the High Court of Malaya may at its discretion admit any qualified
person as an advocate and solicitor of the High Court. Section 3 defines a qualified person
as any person who has passed the final examination leading to the degree of Bachelor of
Laws from various universities or a barrister-at-law of England. Reading together, these
sections tell who may be eligible to be a pupil in Peninsular Malaysia.
On top of that, the LPA also provides for certain qualifications for a qualified person
to be admitted as an advocate and solicitor under s 11. Section 11 provides that a qualified
person shall have attained the age of majority, be of good character, be a citizen or a
permanent resident of Malaysia, have satisfactorily served the prescribed period of pupillage
in Malaysia and have passed or have been exempted from the Bahasa Malaysia Qualifying
Examination.
The term good character under s 11(1)(b) is not defined in the LPA. Nevertheless,
when the paragraph is read as a whole, good character connotes that a qualified person should
not be committed for a criminal offence especially involving fraud or dishonesty, or
adjudicated bankrupt, or disbarred, disqualified or suspended from practice as a legal
practitioner in any country. Reading s 11 as a whole, a pupil must have the abovementioned
qualities before commencing pupillage so as not to render it to be done in vain.
Section 12 of the LPA is the general provision for pupillage. Section 12(1) provides
that a qualified person shall be called a pupil during the period of pupillage and a person
whom he serves shall be called a master. Under s 13(1), a master shall be a person who has
been in active practice of legal profession in Malaysia for a total period of not less than seven
years. Section 12(2) provides that the prescribed period of pupillage shall be nine months
unless he is exempted under s 13(3).

1 Act 166
2 See Sabahs Advocates Ordinance [Sabah Cap. 2]
3 See Sarawaks Advocates Ordinance [Cap. 110 (1958 Ed.)]

Under s 36(2) of the LPA, the master could make an application in Chambers to a
judge for permission to allow the pupil to appear on behalf of the Master or of the firm in the
High Court or subordinate courts for the first three months of the pupillage to mention a case,
including entering judgment in default, or to apply for bail or to take a consent judgment or
order. This confers the privilege of restricted audience to the pupil so that he may learn the
practices in courts hands on with guidance from his master. During this period of time, the
pupil will follow his master and learn from him methods and manners to conduct a case in the
court.
After this first three months, when the pupil is familiar with the procedures, he may
conduct any cause or matter in the High Court and subordinate courts. This is commonly
known as short call.4 Six months after the short call, the pupil shall petition to the High
Court to be admitted as an advocate and solicitor under s 15 of the LPA. This is commonly
known as long call and the pupil shall from this point onwards practice as an independent
lawyer.
Pupillage under the Bar Council
Upon commencement of pupillage, the pupil should sign up for the Ethics Course and the Elearning Programme. He must pass the Ethics Examination in order to entitle him a
Certificate of Due Diligence and Completion of the Ethics Course Programme (Ethics
Certificate).5 This is to ensure that the pupil is sufficiently exposed to and understands the
practice and etiquette rules of the legal profession in order to maintain the nobility, grace and
elegance thereof. In this regard, the pupil must be familiar with the Legal Profession (Practice
and Etiquette) Rules 19786 and the Bar Council Rulings.7
At the same time, the pupil should also register himself for compulsory 14 days legal aid duty
at the Bar Council Legal Aid Centre of the State. The objective of Legal Aid Centre is usually
to provide legal services for the poor and the needy pro bono and education and outreach
programmes to create public awareness with regard to law.8 The pupil would be exposed to
different areas of law and trained in soft skills during his service in the Legal Aid Centre.

4 Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee, Pupillage Handbook and Directory (1st edn, 2010) 16
5 Ibid., 17
6 P.U.(A) 369/78
7 Available at <http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/bc_rulings/> accessed 31 August 2016
8 E.g. Legal Aid Centre Selangor <http://www.selangorbar.org/page_dtl.php?id=680>
accessed 31 August 2016

This will also connect the pupil to the lower social class of the society and foster kindness,
compassion and empathy therein.
Pupillage under the Master
Other than the abovementioned tasks that are required by the Bar Council, a pupil will have
to undergo series of training during his pupillage with his master. Malaysia practises fused
profession, i.e. the legal profession is not divided between barristers and solicitors like in the
United Kingdom. Lawyers in Malaysia are referred to as advocates and solicitors. That is to
say, ideally, a pupil will be exposed to both the advocates practice and solicitors practice.
Practically, nevertheless, it very much depends on the master and the firms preference of
practice.
The advocates practice can be further divided to criminal litigation and civil
litigation. For criminal litigation, a pupil will be familiarised with the Criminal Procedure
Code (CPC).9 The practice of criminal litigation would expose a pupil to client interview, bail
applications, criminal hearings, pleas of guilty and mitigation, trial-within-a-trial (voir dire),
submission of no case to answer, and drafting of appeal papers.10
For civil litigation, it is utmost importance for a pupil to master the Rules of Court 2012. 11
Other statutes which are very useful in practice include the Rules of the Court of Appeal
1994,12 the Rules of the Federal Court 1995, 13 the Bankruptcy Act 1967,14 the Bankruptcy
Rules 1969,15 and the Companies Act 196516 and the rules made thereunder.17 The pupil shall
learn from the clerks filing and issuing of court documents and inspection of court
documents.
A pupil would also learn drafting of pleadings and other court documents (including
Statements of Claim, Defences, Counterclaim and Reply to Defences, Summonses for
Directions, Summonses in Chambers, Affidavits in Support, Affidavits in Reply, Summary
Judgment applications, draft orders and judgments, and Judgments in Default of Appearance
9 Act 593
10 The Malaysian Bar, Pupillage <http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/pupillage.html>
accessed 31 August 2016
11 P.U.(A) 205/2012
12 P.U.(A) 524/94
13 P.U.(A) 376/95
14 Act 360
15 P.U.(A) 199/1969
16 Act 125
17 E.g. Companies Regulations 1966 [P.U. 173/66]; and Companies (Winding-Up) Rules
1972 [P.U.(A) 289/72]

or Defence), applications of injunction and interlocutory injunctions, opinions, and briefs to


Counsel. He should during the course of pupillage attend inter alia summary judgment
proceedings, execution proceedings, matrimonial proceedings and proceedings arising out of
motor vehicle accident claims.18
As for solicitors practice, it usually involves works which are non-contentious in nature.
Therefore, a pupil shall be trained in conveyancing, commercial transactions, and probate and
administration. Some firms may be more specialised in intellectual property law or corporate
law, which are alternatives in non-contentious matters. Since the areas of law can be very
wide, it really depends on the master and the firm under which the pupil is doing his
pupillage.
In general, solicitors practice involves a lot of drafting skills, including preparing
opinions and letters generally, agreements generally, non-standard Sale and Purchase
Agreement involving property with or without title, deed of assignment for property without
title, loan agreement, power of attorney, letters of undertaking, standard form of
conveyancing documents (including Memoranda of Transfer, Charge, Discharge of Charge
and Lease, and entry and withdrawal of private caveats), will, trust settlement, draw-down
letter to a bank client and etc.19
Besides, a pupil would also be introduced inter alia to conduct title searches and presentation
of memoranda at the Land Office, conduct stamping and extraction of documents at the
Stamp Office, extraction of letter of administration at the High Court, and registration of
power of attorney at the High Court. If the firm is practising intellectual property law, a pupil
may join a raid on premises under an Anton Piller order in enforcement of intellectual
property rights.20
The master has a primary duty to guide and train his pupil to be a professional legal
practitioner with regard to the abovementioned areas of practice. He is responsible to shape
the future of his pupil and pass on his knowledge to the young lawyer. On the other hand, a
pupil also ought to exercise due diligence and be curious all the time. He should not confine
himself from the very beginning even though he might have in mind to practise more
substantially in certain areas of law.
Summary on Pupillage in Peninsular Malaysia
18 The Malaysian Bar, supra
19 Ibid.
20 Ibid.

The law and procedures with regard to pupillage in the Peninsular Malaysia are
already very complete and robust. Trainings intended to be carried out for the pupils is
considerably holistic, covering both advocates and solicitors practices. The process alike, if
not entirely the same, has been implemented for years without much problem and stood the
test of time.

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