Lawyerment - Case and Codes - Legal Profession Act 1976

(1)This Act may be cited as the Legal Profession Act, 1976 and shall come into operation on such date or dates as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

(2) The Minister May appoint different dates for the coming into operation of the different parts or provisions of this Act and different dates may be appointed for the coming into operation of this Act in West Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.

2. Application.

This Act shall apply throughout Malaysia but shall only be made applicable to Sabah and Sarawak with such modifications as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong may by order make; and such order shall be published in the Gazette.

3. Interpretation.

In this Act unless the context otherwise requires-

"advocate and solicitor", and "solicitor" where the context requires means an advocate and solicitor of the High Court admitted and enrolled under this Act or under any written law prior to the coming into operation of this Act;

"articled clerk" has the meaning assigned to it in section 20;

"Bahasa Malaysia Qualifying Examination" means an examination conducted by the Board or other persons appointed by the Board for that purpose;

"Bar Council" and "Council" mean the central council of the Malaysian Bar established under section 47;

"Bar Committee" means a Bar Committee elected under section 70;

"the Board" means the Qualifying Board established under section 4;

"client" includes,

(a) in relation to contentious business, any person who as a principal or on behalf of another person retains or employs, an advocate and solicitor, and any person who is or may be liable to pay a solicitor's costs;

(b) in relation to non-contentious business, any person, who as a principal or on behalf of another, or as a trustee, executor or administrator, or in any other capacity, has power, express or implied, to retain or employ, and retains or employs, an advocate and solicitor, and any person for the time being liable to pay an advocate and solicitor for his service and costs;

"Compensation Fund" and "the Fund" mean the fund maintained and administered in accordance with section 80;

"contentious business" means business done by an advocate and solicitor, in or for the purpose of proceedings begun before a Court of justice, tribunal, board, commission, council, statutory body or an arbitrator;

"costs" includes fees, charges, disbursements, expenses and remuneration; ·

"Court" means the High Court or a Judge thereof when sitting in open Court, and `Judge' means a Judge of the High Court sitting in Chambers;

"legal officer" means a qualified person in the judicial and legal service;

"Malaysian Bar" and "Bar" mean the body corporate established under section 41;

"the Ordinance" means the Advocates and Solicitors Ordinance, 1947;

"pleader" means a pleader entitled to practise, at the date of coming into operation of this Act;

"practising certificate" means a certificate issued by the Registrar under section 29;

"qualified person" means any person who

(a) has passed the final examination leading to the degree of Bachelor of Laws of the University of Malaya, the University of Malaya in Singapore, the University of Singapore or the National University of Singapore;

(b) is a barrister-at-law of England; or

(c) is in possession of such other qualification as may by notification in the Gazette* be declared by the Board to be sufficient to make a person a qualified person for the purposes of this Act;

"Register of Practitioners" means the annual register kept by the Registrar under section 31;

"Registrar" means the Registrar of the High Court and includes a Deputy Registrar, Senior Assistant Registrar and an Assistant Registrar;

"Roll" means the Roll of advocates and solicitors of the High Court kept by the Registrar under section 28;

"Rules Committee" means the Rules Committee & constituted under any written law and empowered to make rules regulating the procedure in the High Court;

"Sijil Annual" means the certificate issued by the Council under section 32;

"Solicitors Costs Committee" means the Solicitors Costs Committee constituted under section 113.