12 October 2020, by AG Kalidas, Secretary, Malaysian Bar
Circular No 339/2020
Dated 12 Oct 2020
To Members of the Malaysian Bar
General Information on Matters Discussed at the 5th BC Meeting Held on 19 Sept 2020
Please find below the above-mentioned General Information for your attention.
(1) Guidelines for Adjudication under the Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act 2012
The Construction Law Committee has drafted a set of guidelines as guidance on the workings of adjudication under the Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act 2012. At the BC meeting, Chairperson of the Construction Law Committee T Kuhendran explained that the guidelines would, upon approval of the Bar Council, be forwarded to the Judiciary for further discussion. The guidelines were well-received, and will be sent to the Judiciary after taking into consideration and incorporating the input received at the meeting. T Kuhendran informed the Bar Council that the ultimate aim of the Construction Law Committee would be to produce a draft practice direction for adjudication.
(2) Implementation of e-Bicara System in the High Court
The Co-Chairpersons of the Court Liaison Committee, A G Kalidas and Harleen Kaur informed the Bar Council that they had attended a meeting convened by the Judiciary on 15 Sept 2020 at Putrajaya, where they were informed of the Judiciary’s plan to implement a paperless system called e-Bicara for civil and criminal proceedings in the High Court. The system is apparently conceptually similar to the e-Appellate system used in the Appellate Courts but with some technical differences. In response to this, the Bar Council decided that urgent engagement with the Judiciary is required as there are potential problems and issues that need to be discussed and resolved before such a system is implemented.
(3) Amendment to Ruling 3.08 of the Rules and Rulings of the Bar Council
The purpose of the amendment to Ruling 3.08 is to refine the ruling in relation to a law firm’s email address. With this amendment, law firms will have the option of stating their fax numbers and/or email addresses on their letterheads. Corresponding amendments were made to Ruling 4.03 (information in the name card of an advocate and solicitor of that law firm), Ruling 7.06(2)(d) (notice to the Bar Council regarding the setting up of a new firm), and 14.02(3) (correspondence from an advocate and solicitor or his/her office).
The Bar Council approved the amendments to the above-mentioned Rulings in order for Members to have the option to include and use email as a means of communication.
(3) Premium for 2021 Professional Indemnity Insurance
The Bar Council unanimously decided that the premium for the Professional Indemnity Insurance (“PII”) for the year 2021 is fixed at RM1,129 as suggested by the PII Committee. This is the lowest that it has been in 10 years.
A G KALIDAS
Secretary
Malaysian Bar