KUALA LUMPUR: The Legal Profession Act 1976 will undergo amendments to eliminate the articled clerkship pathway for admission to the Malaysian Bar.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department M Kulasegaran confirmed that the Legal Profession Qualifying Board resolved to cease registering articled clerks effective January 1, 1985.
“This matter has been reviewed on several occasions, and the LPQB has consistently decided to abolish the articled clerkship route,” he said.
He was responding to Senator Datuk C Sivaraj’s query about reconsidering the pathway given the UK Bar Standards Board’s review of degree requirements before pupillage.
Kulasegaran added that the final decision to abolish articled clerkship occurred on December 10 last year with joint LPQB and Bar Council endorsement following a January 20 consultation.
The LPQB has no plans to revisit this decision due to several justifications.
Applications for articled clerk registration have been minimal with only thirty six recorded between 1979 and 2024 resulting in just seventeen admissions.
“The articled clerkship route provided under Act 166 no longer exists in jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore,” he said.
Maintaining or reintroducing the pathway would contradict international practice according to the deputy minister.
Kulasegaran emphasised that abolishing the pathway through legislative amendments represents sound policy after stakeholder engagement and global review.
He noted the UK Bar Standards Board is reviewing academic requirements including proposals to allow non-degree candidates into vocational training courses.
This modernization effort aims to streamline legal profession entry in the United Kingdom. – Bernama