_______________________________________________________________

The five educational institutions are HELP University College, Management and Science University (MSU), Taylor’s University, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) and UniSZA.

—–

Malaysiakini

On July 19, 2013, the Bar Council Malaysia released a press statement about the need to exercise caution when selecting law programmes in tertiary institutions and named Taylor’s University as one of the institutions offering a homegrown law degree that’s currently not recognised by the Legal Profession Qualifying Board (LPQB).

Following a closer review of the Taylor’s University law programmes, Bar Council Malaysia issued another statement yesterday, July 24, 2013, confirming that Taylor’s University does indeed offer pathways from its law programmes that culminate in law degrees conferred by UK universities that are recognised by LPQB.

I would like to thank Christopher Leong, the president and Steven Thiruneelakandan, the vice-president of the Bar Council Malaysia for their acknowledgement and timely clarification about the status of the courses that we offer.

The press statement is very clear and expressly lists down the options that students may pursue as well as the status of these options for purposes of the LPQB recognition.

We also offer herewith a further detailed clarification of the programme that is offered.

In the past 21 years, we have successfully taught more than 1,000 students, who have gone on to graduate from top UK universities. From 1992 to 2004, we successfully ran twinning programmes with the University of Sheffield and then with the University of Reading which saw its last intake in January 2012.

These programmes were and are fully recognised by the LPQB for purposes of legal practice in Malaysia.

Students who are currently transferring to the University of Reading in September 2013 need not be concerned about the recognition of the programme.

In 2010, when Taylor’s became a full-fledged university, we offered our own Law programme and had our first intake of the Taylor’s University Bachelor of Laws Programme in early 2012.

Through this programme, prospective students have two pathways to obtain their Bachelor of Laws degree. In the first pathway, students can opt to graduate with the degree which will see them spend all three years here at Taylor’s University. Students who graduate on this pathway will not currently be able to practice law in the country as it is not recognised by the LPQB.

Based on the current practice, the institution will only be able to apply for the LPQB recognition for its law programme after the institution has obtained the full accreditation from the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) for the law programme.

To obtain this full accreditation for the law programme, the programme will have to be run on a provisional accreditation given by MQA and we will have to see our first cohort of students through to their final year of study (in 2014) on this provisionally accredited programme.

Therefore, we can only apply for an MQA accreditation for the law programme in 2014 and if that is successful, we can then apply for the LPQB recognition in the same year or later.

Taylor’s University is bound by this current process and has to run its provisionally accredited law degree by MQA without the LPQB recognition for its first few cohorts of students until the application for recognition can be made and the recognition is given.

We are fully aware that the LPQB recognition is also subject to us satisfying the LPQB’s applicable criteria.
…

The programme also allows students a second pathway. On this pathway, students may opt to articulate to one of our six articulation partners; namely, University of Manchester, University of Sheffield, Cardiff University, University of Leeds, University of Reading and University of the West of England.

If they choose this option, prospective students will need to complete either one or two years here at Taylor’s before transferring to the UK to complete their degree with our articulation partners.

Students on this pathway will graduate with a law degree from the articulation partner of their choice.

As mentioned in the Bar Council’s Press Statement of July 24, 2013, our six UK partner universities are currently in the LPQB’s list of recognised UK universities for CLP purposes.

Graduates who have successfully completed their degrees in one of these Universities will therefore be eligible to sit for the Certificate of Legal Practice (CLP) Examination for purposes of legal practice in Malaysia.

In addition, these UK articulation pathways from Taylor’s University are validated by the UK Joint Academic Stage Board (JASB), the body responsible for the validation and review of qualifying law degrees for the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) in the UK.

This validation was obtained in July 2011 before the programme commenced. Students who obtain the BPTC qualification can also return to practice law in Malaysia. The BPTC is currently deemed equivalent to the CLP examinations
…

Taylor’s University and its Law School have always been transparent about its LPQB status, and I hope that this clarification will address the concerns of students, parents and any other relevant parties.

HARMAHINDER SINGH is dean of Taylor’s Law School.

Clarifying Taylor’s University’s law pathways

—

Malaysiakini

Since childhood, he always dreamt of becoming a lawyer. And he was elated when offered a place in a public university to pursue a legal degree.

But the 19-year-old student and his parents’ joy were short-lived. To their shock, they discovered that the course in Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) was not recognised in Malaysia.

“Who ever thought a public university would offer a course that is not recognised?” lamented his mother. “This is unacceptable and ridiculous!”

Speaking to Malaysiakini, the mother, who wished to be identified only as Tee, was now perplexed as to what to do next.

According to her, the UniSZA law degree was not recognised by the Legal Profession Qualifying Board (LPQB).

Dream shatters – public uni offers unrecognised degree

—

Malaysiakini

Our students are completely aware of the fact that if they pursue the HELP LLB, they cannot practice law. For those who want to practice law in Malaysia they are advised to pursue the UK Degree Transfer Programme and we have nine good partner universities in the UK for this purpose. All nine partners are recognised by the MLPQB.

Our partners are:
1. Cardiff University;
2. Manchester University;
3. Liverpool University,
4. Leeds University;
5. University of Sheffield;
6. Aberystwyth University, Wales;
7. Northumbria University;
8. University of the West of England, Bristol and
9. Hertfordshire University.

VASANTHA MOORTY is dean, Faculty of Law & Government, HELP University.

Clarification on LLB from HELP University

—

The Malaysia Bar

‘HELP’s law courses legitimate’

Posted by Web Administrator

Monday, 22 July 2013 10:39am

©The New Straits Times (Used by permission)   KUALA LUMPUR: HELP University has clarified that it offers two legitimate pathways to a law degree, following a recent statement by the Bar Council that listed it as one of several institutions that offered law degrees unrecognised by the Legal Profession Qualifying Board (LPQB). Its Faculty of Law and Government dean, Vasantha Moorthy, said students could pursue the United Kingdom degree transfer programme or opt for HELP’s Bachelor of Law (LLB), a local three-year degree. She said HELP’s partner universities were recognised by the LPQB. “We received approval to run the LLB when HELP was upgraded to university college status in 2004. “We did not offer the programme then, as we were waiting for LPQB’s recognition to allow LLB graduates to pursue the Certificate in Legal Practice (CLP).

Taylor’s and HELP defend law courses

Posted by Web Administrator

Sunday, 21 July 2013 04:09pm

©The Star (Used by permission) by KANG SOON CHEN   PETALING JAYA: Two private universities which have been running homegrown law courses have defended their programmes, saying they have not placed any misleading information in their advertisement. Taylor’s University dean of law school Harmahinder Singh said the university had always been forthcoming about the status of its programme with the Legal Profession Qualifying Board of Malaysia. “Information about this matter has been published in all of our prospectuses and included in information-sharing sessions with prospective students and parents,” he said. (The LPQB’s task is to prescribe the qualifications that would entitle someone to become a “qualified person” within the Legal Profession Act for the purpose of admission as an advocate and solicitor in Malaysia.) Harmahinder was responding to a statement by the Malaysian Bar which named five universities that offered law degrees that are not recognised by the Board – Taylor’s University, HELP University, Management and Science University, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia and Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin. He said students enrolled in its Bachelor of Laws (LLB) course were given the option to graduate in the homegrown programme or transfer to one of its partner universities from the United Kingdom which are on the list of universities recognised by the LPQB for the Certificate in Legal Practice (CLP) exam purposes.

Press Release (Revised): Exercise Caution When Selecting Law Programme to Pursue

Posted by Web Administrator

Friday, 19 July 2013 08:10am

This item has been revised since initial publication. The Malaysian Bar reminds students who intend to pursue a law degree locally to conduct due diligence when selecting a law programme to undertake, as some educational institutions offer law programmes culminating in law degrees that are not recognised by the Legal Profession Qualifying Board (“LPQB”). LPQB is the body tasked to prescribe the qualifications that would entitle an individual to become a “qualified person” within the meaning of the Legal Profession Act 1976, for the purpose of admission as an advocate and solicitor in Malaysia.  As such, only graduates with law degrees that are recognised by LPQB will be able to enter the legal profession in Malaysia.  Details regarding the qualifications recognised for entry into the legal profession are available on the LPQB website, at ​ http://www.lpqb.org.my. There are a number of educational institutions in Malaysia offering law programmes culminating in law degrees that are not recognised by LPQB.  It is incumbent upon these institutions to disclose to their students, or to applicants, that upon graduation, they will not be permitted to practise law in the country.  Such schools may be accredited with the Malaysian Qualifications Agency, but mere accreditation is not adequate to satisfy the applicable criteria, where entry into the legal profession is concerned.  These institutions must still seek the approval of LPQB for their law programmes and degrees.

Malaysian Bar Council

—————————————————————————