KUALA LUMPUR: The New Bar Course (NBC) will be introduced to replace the Certificate in Legal Practice (CLP) examination under a fresh approach placing greater emphasis on practical training and professional skills.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) M. Kulasegaran (pic), who disclosed this, said the Legal Profession Qualifying Board (LPQB) completed its review of the Common Bar Course (CBC) curriculum on March 31 through a dedicated committee.
He said the committee proposed that CBC be renamed NBC and applied to individuals who were not qualified under the Legal Profession Act 1976, be it whether they obtained their law degrees locally or abroad.
“Under NBC which will replace the CLP examination, LPQB will introduce two programmes known as the Conversion Course and the Legal Practice Postgraduate Certificate (LPPC),” he told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, Bernama reported.
He was responding to Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan (PN-Kota Baru) on the latest status of NBC and the articled clerkship pathway review undertaken by LPQB.
Kulasegaran said the Conversion Course would be a three-month online programme for overseas graduates requiring a structured introduction to Malaysia’s legal system, including core substantive laws.
He said the course would be conducted through a Learning Management System developed by LPQB and assessed through Computer-Based Assessment.
“LPPC will be a six-month vocational programme for both local and overseas graduates, focusing on legal practice before they undergo pupillage.
“It is conceived as a new approach that places greater emphasis on practical skills development than the CLP examination, with a more relevant assessment method,” he said.
Kulasegaran said LPQB set up an NBC Task Force on April 27 to undertake “A Study to Develop the Operational Framework for the New Bar Course (Conversion Course and Legal Practice Postgraduate Certificate): From Policy to Practice”, aimed at developing an operational framework and ensuring smooth implementation of the proposed course.
He said the task force comprised experts from public universities, private higher education institutions and members of the Malaysian Bar, with the 12-month study to end next April.
Kulasegaran said LPQB also created a special committee to undertake a Strategic Review and Enhancement of the Articled Clerk Pathway, with the nine-month study scheduled to run until Nov 30.
