Please note that if you were in possession of a valid Practising Certificate 2020 but you are not issued with a Practising Certificate 2021 on or before 31 Jan 2021, your name will not be displayed on the Malaysian Bar website from 1 Feb 2021 until you receive your Practising Certificate 2021. This may affect your ability, or that of your law firm, to, among others, carry out e-filing.

We urge all Members to submit or regularise their applications online on or before 22 Jan 2021 (Friday), in order to give sufficient time for the applications to be processed.

Circular No 451/2020
Dated 28 Dec 2020

To Members of the Malaysian Bar

Practising Without a Practising Certificate after 31 Dec 2020

Pursuant to part III of the Legal Profession Act 1976 (“LPA”), Practising Certificate and Sijil Annual shall be renewed annually by every advocate and solicitor.

(A)    Application for Sijil Annual and Practising Certificate 2021

We refer to Circular No 321/2020 dated 30 Sept 2020 entitled “Sijil Annual 2021”, where we provided Members with detailed information regarding the Sijil Annual and Practising Certificate (“SAPC”) online application process. 

Please click here to begin your SAPC application, which can only be made online.
 
Members who wish to continue their practice but have yet to submit their SAPC 2021 application are reminded to take immediate steps to do so.

Members who have been notified that their SAPC 2021 application is not in order are advised to regularise their application on an urgent basis by providing the information or documents requested, to enable the Bar Council Secretariat to complete the processing of their application expeditiously.

In order to submit or regularise your SAPC 2021 application after 31 Jan 2021 (Sunday), you must submit a “Resume Practice Request” through the Malaysian Bar website, so that you can access the Member Online Portal.  Any Sijil Annual 2021 application (if already commenced) will lapse in our online system on 31 Jan 2021 (Sunday).  Please refer to pages 26 to 29 of Circular No 321/2020 for details. 

(B)    Practising after 31 Dec 2020

Section 29(3) of the Legal Profession Act 1976 (“LPA”) provides that if a Member has duly complied with section 29(1) of the LPA (relating to the application for Practising Certificates) “in the month of January of any year, the practising certificate issued to him in respect of that year shall be deemed to have been in operation from the 1st day of January of that year”.

Members may appear in court and carry on with their law practice in January 2021, provided they comply with section 29(3) of the LPA.  

The status of a Member who was in possession of a valid SAPC 2020 but who is not issued a valid Practising Certificate 2021 on or before 31 Jan 2021 (Sunday) will be changed from “active” to “inactive” in the Bar Council’s database on 1 Feb 2021.  The Member’s name will not be displayed on the Malaysian Bar website from 1 Feb 2021 until the Member receives his / her Practising Certificate 2021.  This may affect the Member and / or the law firm’s ability to, among others, carry out e-filing.  

We urge all Members to submit or regularise their application online well in advance, in order to give sufficient time for the application to be processed.

(C)    Cessation of Practice

Members who wish to cease practice, either on a permanent or temporary basis, are required to notify the Bar Council in accordance with section 31(2) of the LPA, and to comply with the Bar Council’s Rules on Cessation of, or Change in, Practice (“Rules”).

A copy of the Rules and the relevant forms is available here, and can also be obtained from the Bar Council Secretariat. 

A Member will not be deemed to have ceased practice merely as a result of the expiration of the validity of the Member’s Practising Certificate 2020 on 31 Dec 2020 pursuant to section 29(2) of the LPA.

Law firms are urged to notify the Bar Council when any lawyer leaves the firm, in order for the Bar Council to update its records.

(D)    Disciplinary Proceedings

The Bar Council may institute disciplinary proceedings after 31 Jan 2021 against Members who were not issued with Practising Certificate 2021 on or before 31 Jan 2021, except in respect of Members from whom the Bar Council has received a Notice of Cessation of Practice as an Advocate and Solicitor, supported with a Statutory Declaration as prescribed under the Rules.

For sole proprietors who do not have a valid Sijil Annual and Practising Certificate 2021 and have not ceased practice, site inspections will be conducted and injunction proceedings will be instituted against sole proprietors whose firms are found to be in operation.  In the event that the Bar Council institutes injunction proceedings against a Member, any costs incurred by the Bar Council shall be borne by the Member concerned.

(E)    Contact the Bar Council Membership Department

For enquiries relating to your SAPC 2021 application, kindly contact the Membership Department by telephone at 03-2050 2191, or send an email to membership@malaysianbar.org.my.

Thank you.

A G KALIDAS
Secretary
Malaysian Bar


Please click here to view the full circular on our website, or here to view it on our Facebook page.