CLP to be scrapped - The Star

By Royce Cheah

KUALA LUMPUR: The Certificate of Legal Practice (CLP) will soon be scrapped in favour of the Common Bar Course (CBC) and Common Bar Exam (CBE), Law Minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim said.

Citing that a study by a committee appointed by the Legal Profession Qualifying Board (LPQB) on how to implement the move was in its final stages, Zaid said the goal was to standardise and improve the quality of law practitioners.

“The CBC and CBE will be mandatory for anyone who wants to practise law, whether they are local or foreign graduates.”

Zaid, however, would not speculate on whether the CBC and CBE would be the only prerequisite before a graduate is called to the Bar or whether chambering would continue.

“The course and exam will be overseen by a non-profit organisation supported by the Government.”

Zaid, who was speaking to reporters at the Parliament lobby, was expanding on a written reply to Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh’s question on whether the Government had plans to abolish the CLP and what it would be replaced with.

[More at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/15/nation/21252004&sec=nation]