First of all I would like to say that your work is much appreciated so as to clear the doubts by prospective law students with regard to the recognition of MMU Law Programme.

However, I noticed some minor omissions or misdescription and I shall not highlight all except two.

There are only 3 ways for a person to be a qualified person with a view of being called to the Malaysian Bar and this is defined in S3 as of the Legal Profession Act 1976.
The first being a recognition of the University itself as expressly stated in the section, the second being a barrister at law of England and the third being any person with a qualification recognised by the board to be sufficient to make the holder a qualified person under the Act.

CLP and Solicitor of the The Law Society Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Judicature England would fall under the third category and Universities like UM and NUS would fall under the first.

MMU's Law Degree would probably fall under the third category as a qualification recognised to make the holder a qualified person as this is how most other local Unis are recognised.

The board recognizing it is the Legal Profession Qualifying Board established under the Act and their jurisdiction falls under the third category.


An Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya or the High Court of Sabah & Sarawak (formerly known as Borneo) is not called to the roll.
An Advocate like a Barrister is called to the bar whereas a Solicitor is entered on the roll of Solicitors. However, due to the peculiarity of our Country's legal profession being a fused one and considering that an Advocate normally practices exclusive or higher right of audience, an Advocate and Solicitor in this country is called to the bar instead of being entered on the roll.

The roll as used by the LPA is a register of Advocates and Solicitors with right of audience. And you'll find that no lawyer in this country would consider themselves being entered on the roll as opposed to being called to the bar.

If you are interested in this development, please read more on the history and traditions of the Bench and the Bar.

Thank you.

This post has been edited by schizophrenic: Dec 30 2007, 02:02 AM

cross reference the subjects for MMU's law degree, UM's External degree and CLP. You'll find your answer there.

look at Section 3 of the Legal Profession Act 1976 and you'll know about NUS despite the subjects being different.

you must first understand what is the meaning of a qualified person with a right to petition to the high court to be called to the bar.

a qualified person would be defined under section 3.
there are 3 paras to this definition.
the first is what you mentioned above. It is being recognised by statute due to some arrangement back in the past.
the second would be a barrister-at-law in england.
the third being any other qualification which is recognised by the legal profession qualifying board so as to make that person a qualified person under the act.

other IPTAs which does not fall under para 1 would fall under para 3. CLP falls under para 3.
In order to get an accurate and current list of recognised qualification under para 3, it is best to contact the Legal Profession Qualifying Board.

However, the Malaysian Bar's website provides a list of recognised qualifications (which is a combination of para 1 to 3).
You can always check there for guidance.

Therefore, the central issue would be, 'is the qualification capable of making the holder a qualified person under the Act'. Else, the holder would have to sit for CLP or other recognised qualification. The issue is not whether the degree is exempted from CLP.

This post has been edited by schizophrenic: Jan 6 2008, 01:10 PM

Yes, the other local uni grads that is recognised under para 3 need not sit for clp as he/she already is a qualified person.

yes there are requirements for a person to sit for the clp examination.
The law degree must be a recognised one and you must have done your SPM/equivalent(which is recognised) and obtained at least 3 credits in one sitting and also done your STPM/equivalent(which is recognised) and obtain at least 2 principals in one sitting and you must use the result you obtained to gain a place in the Uni for the law degree. As for mature student, you must have at least 5 years proven relevant working experience and you must enter your degree using that experience and the Board must also be satisfied that you are suitable for CLP. Therefore, the STPM/A levels route is still safer even for mature student.

Do note on the credit in BM(SPM) requirement. Else, there is an additional BM Examination in which the candidate will normally be examined by a 3 person panel and normally 2 of them are judges. It is much tougher than SPM.

I guess this is sufficient to answer your questions.

This post has been edited by schizophrenic: Jan 6 2008, 10:31 PM

yes you can take the foundation only.
highly unlikely to be recognised elsewhere.