Over half a million ringgit on a six-day official visit to the UK by the Legal Profession Qualifying Board to learn about how bar courses are run, the Dewan Negara was told.
Law and institutional reforms minister Azalina Othman Said said the trip, which cost a total of RM515,125, was aimed at developing a local Common Bar Course, by drawing on lessons from top law schools and regulators in the UK.
“(The costs) includes flight tickets, lodging, vehicle hire in London, per diem for delegates, food during the public dialogue session, and souvenirs,” she said in a written reply.
Azalina was responding to Senator Roderick Wong, who had asked for the cost, agenda, delegation list, and outcomes of the board’s UK visit, as well as how many board members met with examination candidates for the Certificate in Legal Practice this year.
She also said that nine delegates were part of the trip, including the board’s chairperson, four board members, the secretary, the CLP exam director, and two staff officers.
They had meetings with the University of Law, City Law School, Legal Services Board, Solicitors Regulation Authority, Lincoln’s Inn, University of London, and the Bar Standards Board.
Azalina said these talks gave the board useful exposure on curriculum design, regulatory models, and global standards needed for the development and implementation of the CBC in Malaysia.
The group also held a public dialogue at the Malaysian High Commission in London, where Malaysian law students and practising lawyers in the UK were briefed on how to qualify as lawyers in Malaysia and on the CLP exam and the CBC plan.
Separately, Azalina said the board held a session for CLP exam candidates in June at the Asian International Arbitration Centre in Kuala Lumpur.
She said 205 candidates attended, no board members were present, as they were not required to. The briefing was led by the exam director and a panel of lawyers.
The LPQB, which oversees the CLP exam and lawyer qualification, had earlier come under scrutiny for weak transparency and governance.
Last year, questions were raised over its financial records, with reports of decades of missing data. Last October, the Dewan Rakyat was told that the board was not audited for 17 years, with RM20.5 million spent on operational costs (up to October).
