KUALA LUMPUR: There is no quota for candidates to pass the Certificate in Legal Practice (CLP) examination, says Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) M. Kulasegaran.
He said candidates are assessed based on merit, with a minimum pass mark of 40 for each subject.
Kulasegaran said figures reported earlier on the 2026 CLP pass rate covered only the main examination and did not include the supplementary examination, which is scheduled for Wednesday (Oct 21).
The final results for the 2026 CLP examination will be announced in November after the supplementary examination results have been received and approved by the Legal Profession Qualifying Board, he said.
Kulasegaran was responding to a supplementary question from Dr Sivakumar Varatharaju Naidu (PH-Batu Gajah), who said 158, or 19%, of the 826 candidates who sat for the 2026 CLP examination obtained full passes.
Sivakumar asked what was being done to address the decline while maintaining standards in the legal profession, as this was lower than the 21% pass rate recorded in 2025.
To this, Kulasegaran said the CLP was a professional examination and differed from examinations for a university law degree.
He said many candidates were graduates of overseas universities in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, where they studied common law.
"Upon returning to Malaysia, they need to sit for the CLP, which is a professional examination on Malaysian law," he said in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (Oct 20).
Kulasegaran said some candidates did not sufficiently prepare to study Malaysian law before sitting for the examination.
He added that some were unable to identify legal issues raised in examination questions, apply the relevant laws to the facts given, or cite the relevant legal provisions and case law.
“These are matters addressed by the board,” he explained.
Separately, Kulasegaran said the New Bar Course (NBC), which will replace the CLP examination, would provide a more structured route for prospective lawyers.
The Legal Profession Qualifying Board set up an NBC task force on April 27 to develop an operational framework for the new course.
The NBC will comprise a three-month Conversion Course and a six-month Legal Practice Postgraduate Certificate programme.
The Conversion Course is for holders of non-qualifying law degrees from recognised overseas institutions and will introduce them to the Malaysian legal system and core Malaysian laws.
Candidates will independently complete five modules through a learning management system before sitting online assessments comprising multiple-choice and extended multiple-choice questions.
Holders of non-qualifying law degrees from local institutions who have studied Malaysian law at degree level will not need to take the Conversion Course and may proceed directly to the Legal Practice Postgraduate Certificate programme.
The six-month programme will focus on practical legal skills and professional competence to prepare candidates for pupillage in Malaysia.
Candidates will be assessed through practical, written and online assessments.
Kulasegaran said the task force was also looking at transition arrangements for CLP candidates who have yet to pass but had valid attempts and registration periods remaining.
He said the arrangements were being studied to ensure these candidates would not be adversely affected by the transition to the NBC.
