UEC holders can now sit for the Certificate in Legal Practice Examination

PETALING JAYA: Holders of the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) will now be able to sit for the Certificate in Legal Practice Examination (CLPE), provided they fulfil certain requirements.

Legal Profession Qualifying Board chairman Tommy Thomas said that in order to be eligible, UEC holders must have passes in at least two subjects at the Senior Middle 3 level as well as a minimum of five credits at SPM, 'O' levels or the equivalent.

Candidates must also fulfil these requirements in only one sitting of the abovementioned examinations.

"The Board is now satisfied that the UEC qualification at Senior Middle 3 is acceptable to fulfil the requirement of being equivalent to the STPM for the purposes of eligibility to sit for the CLPE.

"This requirement shall be applicable to all students registered for the LLB degree programme after the announcement on June 5, 2018, of the previous decision," added Thomas, who is also the Attorney General (AG), in a statement on Friday (March 29).

He said that the Board came to this decision after conducting a review exercise, which included obtaining information from several universities in the United Kingdom as well as the United Chinese School Committees' Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) on the standard of the UEC qualification and its acceptance into university degree programmes.

Thomas added that all other requirements as listed in the 'New Guidelines on the Qualifications And Requirements To Qualify To Sit For The Malaysian Certificate in Legal Practise (CLP) Examination (For Law Degrees from The United Kingdom' and the 'Guidelines on Qualifications and Requirements for Recognition of Holders of Australia and New Zealand Law Degrees' to become 'Qualified Persons' under the Legal Profession Act 1976 will still apply.