The Malaysian Bar Council has reiterated its opposition to the opening of the legal services market to foreign law firms.
In 2009 the Malaysian Government announced that foreign law firms would be allowed to set up offices in the country, provided they only advise on Islamic finance transactions. However, during the recent opening of the Malaysian Legal Year 2010, the Bar Council chairman Ragunath Kesavan said the council is against the decision to permit foreign law firms to operate ‘on a stand-alone basis.’
“[We] believe in progressively liberalising the legal services sector by allowing foreign law firms to enter the country on a joint law venture basis,” he said. “The Bar Council is opposed to Bank Negara Malaysia’s idea of allowing the entry of foreign legal firms into the Malaysian market, even though it is exclusively for Islamic finance matters.”
However, Malaysia’s Chief Justice, YAA Tun Dato’ Seri Zaki bin Tun Azmi, said that Malaysia “cannot afford to be left behind” in the globalisation race, and that opening the legal sector to foreign counsels would aid local development. “Maybe it is about time that we discuss the possibility of opening our legal system to foreign counsels for us to learn from them,” he said. “If Malaysia is to attract more investors, it must be able to provide good legal service comparable to that provided in the advanced countries to our investors. We must be prepared to learn from others. To the judges, legal officers and the bar, I say let us pursue and persist to improve further to be amongst the best in the world.”
Local firms have been able to forge presences overseas, for example, Zaid Ibrahim recently gained approval to set up in Australia this year. Yet it seems there has been no solid development in allowing foreign law firms into Malaysia, despite continued interest and lobbying efforts by groups such as the UK Law Society.
Local lawyers told ALB that changes to allow foreign law firms are being deliberated by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, in consultation with the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC). These deliberations concern changes to the country’s Legal Profession Act, especially provisions for ‘special admission certificates’ for foreign lawyers.
The changes are being halted by opposition from the local bar council, as the legal industry’s liberalisation is a smaller part of the country’s broader measures to liberalise its financial services sector. A spokesperson from the AGC said the liberalisation process is ongoing and is in direct consultation with the bar. “As far as Chambers is concerned, the process of harmonising our laws to facilitate liberalisation is ongoing but for the immediate 27 sectors as announced by our Prime Minister, most of the legal regime is already in place,” the spokesperson said. “Legal services are not caught up in the immediate liberalisation exercise and hence we will be looking at progressive liberalisation guided by the Malaysian Bar Council.”
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