New date for Bar's AGM
Arfa'eza A AzizPublished: Oct 11, 2005 11:54 AM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 10:21 AM
The Malaysian Bar has set Oct 22 to reconvene its 59th annual general meeting which was declared unlawful due to the lack of quorum.
The Malaysian Bar has set Oct 22 to reconvene its 59th annual general meeting which was declared unlawful due to the lack of quorum.
Former Bar Secretary Ambiga Sreenevasan told malaysiakini this evening that the date was chosen considering the festive season early next month.
"As such, the meeting is scheduled to be held on Oct 22 at 10am at the Legend Hotel in Kuala Lumpur," she said when contacted, adding notices would be sent out to all the lawyers by tomorrow.
Ambiga - who was elected vice-president at the now unlawful meeting - expressed confidence that the quorum requirement would be met at the new meeting. A total of 2,398 lawyers from the Bar's total membership of 11,900 are required to be present.
"It's in the best interest of their profession and their own professional practice for them to attend the meeting. I would urge all to come and make up the quorum. As I said earlier, I believe that the lawyers will rise to the occasion," said Ambiga.
The court saga on the lack of quorum at the infamous AGM began when senior lawyer Edward Van Buerle filed a motion at the High Court and successfully obtained a declaration that the March meet was 'null and void'.
Amendment bid
The lawyer - who was among many senior members of the Bar who walked out from the meet in protest - also obtained a declaration that the election of the Bar Council members plus all resolutions and decisions passed at the meeting were 'unlawful'.
The High Court's decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal in dismissing an appeal from the Bar.
An attempt to bring the issue to the highest court in the land, the Federal Court, failed when the court dismissed an application for leave to appeal against the Court of Appeal's decision.
On an related issue, Ambiga said that the council will continue to press the government to amend Section 67(1) of the Legal Profession Act 1978 to reduce the one-fifth quorum requirement for the Bar's future AGMs.
"We had submitted a memorandum to Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz and we had a fruitful discussion. We have not received any feedback since the discussion but we hope that the government will continue to support us on this issue."
Minister's pledge
On April 12, Nazri told Parliament that the quorum requirement was not only impractical in the present time but also 'outdated'.
"[..] There are now 13,000 lawyers and if the one-fifth quota is to be followed, at least 2,600 members are required to attend an AGM. If they hold the meeting where can we place them all ... at the Bukit Jalil (National) Stadium or the Merdeka Stadium? This provision is clearly outdated," the minister had said.
He promised to refer the matter to the 'minister-in-charge of laws' as soon as he received a copy of the council's memorandum supporting the amendment of the quorum requirement.
The Bar Council subsequently submitted the memorandum to Nazri on May 10 at Parliament after discussions.
Former Bar Secretary Ambiga Sreenevasan told malaysiakini this evening that the date was chosen considering the festive season early next month.
"As such, the meeting is scheduled to be held on Oct 22 at 10am at the Legend Hotel in Kuala Lumpur," she said when contacted, adding notices would be sent out to all the lawyers by tomorrow.
Ambiga - who was elected vice-president at the now unlawful meeting - expressed confidence that the quorum requirement would be met at the new meeting. A total of 2,398 lawyers from the Bar's total membership of 11,900 are required to be present.
"It's in the best interest of their profession and their own professional practice for them to attend the meeting. I would urge all to come and make up the quorum. As I said earlier, I believe that the lawyers will rise to the occasion," said Ambiga. The court saga on the lack of quorum at the infamous AGM began when senior lawyer Edward Van Buerle filed a motion at the High Court and successfully obtained a declaration that the March meet was 'null and void'.
Amendment bid
The lawyer - who was among many senior members of the Bar who walked out from the meet in protest - also obtained a declaration that the election of the Bar Council members plus all resolutions and decisions passed at the meeting were 'unlawful'.
The High Court's decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal in dismissing an appeal from the Bar.
An attempt to bring the issue to the highest court in the land, the Federal Court, failed when the court dismissed an application for leave to appeal against the Court of Appeal's decision.
On an related issue, Ambiga said that the council will continue to press the government to amend Section 67(1) of the Legal Profession Act 1978 to reduce the one-fifth quorum requirement for the Bar's future AGMs.
"We had submitted a memorandum to Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz and we had a fruitful discussion. We have not received any feedback since the discussion but we hope that the government will continue to support us on this issue."
Minister's pledge
On April 12, Nazri told Parliament that the quorum requirement was not only impractical in the present time but also 'outdated'.
"[..] There are now 13,000 lawyers and if the one-fifth quota is to be followed, at least 2,600 members are required to attend an AGM. If they hold the meeting where can we place them all ... at the Bukit Jalil (National) Stadium or the Merdeka Stadium? This provision is clearly outdated," the minister had said. He promised to refer the matter to the 'minister-in-charge of laws' as soon as he received a copy of the council's memorandum supporting the amendment of the quorum requirement.
The Bar Council subsequently submitted the memorandum to Nazri on May 10 at Parliament after discussions.
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