Lawyer: Malaysian Bar not ‘hypocritical’, no legal restriction on ex-judges as counsel
(Malay Mail Online) -In defending the Malaysian Bar from criticisms over its alleged silence on Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram’s recent appearance in court, prominent lawyer Syahredzan Johan said today that there is no existing law blocking a former judge from acting as counsel.
Earlier today, a group of activists and lawyers had claimed that the Bar Council was “hypocritical”, suggesting the body governing the Malaysian Bar was applying a different set of principle as Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was the client represented by Gopal.
But when contacted, Syahredzan told Malay Mail Online that the Malaysian Bar is not “hypocritical”, saying that the professional body representing all lawyers in Peninsular Malaysia remains opposed to former judges acting as counsels.
He also pointed out that Gopal has been regularly representing clients in court, saying that “there is nothing legally wrong” with the former Federal Court judge’s actions as “there is no law to prohibit it.”
“The Bar did not issue any statement every time he appears in court, so why is it that the Bar must issue a statement specifically for this case?” Syahredzan asked.
But if the Malaysian Bar were to now say that it is acceptable for retired judges to appear in court as lawyers, that would be hypocritical, he said.
“But as far as I know, the resolution still stands and the position is the same as before,” he said.
Syahredzan was referring to the Malaysian Bar’s resolution on March 15 this year, which he said does not itself introduce any legal prohibition that would stop a former judge from becoming a lawyer, but merely aims to get the Bar Council to push for such legal changes.
“The resolution passed did not impose any restriction on retired judges. So there is nothing hypocritical about the Bar in this regard,” he said.
Earlier today, Syahredzan wrote in a Facebook post to clarify that the resolution “only imposes on the Bar Council to propose amendments to the law”, saying that the Malaysian Bar’s decision was “non-binding and unenforceable” to stop former judges from acting as counsels.
“To say that Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram has been ‘allowed’ to appear in Court for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is a plain wrong, since there is no restriction/prohibition in the first place,” Syahredzan wrote in the post in a general response to criticisms raised.
Syahredzan, who is also the Bar Council’s National Young Lawyers’ Committee (NYLC) chairman, added a disclaimer in his Facebook post that it was an “unofficial” response to attacks claiming that the Bar Council was allowing Gopal to act as Anwar’s defence lawyer.
He confirmed with Malay Mail Online that the Facebook statement and his comments are his “personal” views and does not reflect the Bar Council’s stand as he was not mandated to speak on behalf of it on this matter.
When asked whether the Bar Council was still studying amendments to the Legal Profession Act (LPA) 1976 or had already proposed such changes to the Attorney-General, Syahredzan said the Bar Council president would be able to confirm that.
At the time of writing, Malay Mail Online has yet to receive any response from the Bar Council president Chris Leong or vice-president Steven Thiru.
Yesterday, Gopal unexpectedly showed up as Anwar’s lead counsel at the beginning of the Federal Court hearing of the PKR de facto politician’s appeal against a conviction and five-year-jail sentence for sodomy.
Gopal’s appearance as a counsel after his retirement from the judiciary had previously stirred up a debate, but the Federal Court last September ruled that there was no basis to deny the retired Federal Court judge from acting as a counsel.
In the March 15 resolution, the Malaysian Bar said that “a retired judge of the superior courts should be prohibited or restricted by law from appearing as counsel in court”, adding among other things that the Bar Council needs to suggest changes to the LPA 1976 to achieve this objective.
The courts that fall under the “superior courts” category in Malaysia’s civil legal system are the Federal Court, Court of Appeal and High Court.
The term “counsel” refers to lawyers who appear in courts, which means that the resolution reflects the Malaysian Bar’s stand that it believed that no one who previously sat as judges in the superior courts should represent clients in any court in Malaysia.
