The Law Society is hoping to establish a legal advice clinic for certain sections of the public, subject to obtaining suitable premises.

Law Society President Pg Izad Ryan PLKDR Pg Hj Bahrin said this yesterday in a speech during the Opening of the Legal Year 2010.

“This aim is to provide pro-bono legal advice to members of the public in all branches of the law, with the hope of increasing access to justice.

“Private practice has had its difficulty in attracting to and keeping young local lawyers in the profession. As I said earlier, a robust and healthy legal profession is part and parcel of the efficient administration of justice.

“I wish to say that legal practice is still an honourable profession, although it requires hard work and the ability to deal with substantial pressures. It can, nevertheless, be edifying and personally rewarding. I urge anyone now considering a path of study to consider Law as a possibility,” he said.

Earlier in his speech he said, “As members of the legal profession, the judiciary, the attorney generals chambers and enforcement agencies, we all have a part to play in the efficient administration of justice. As the system is adversarial, it requires adjudicators of integrity, incorruptibility and independence. In this respect, we practitioners in Brunei are privileged to work under a judiciary showing all of these attributes.

“I would also note that for this system to work effectively, all other parties, including the private legal profession as a whole, must be healthy and robust. To this end I hope we can all work together,” said the Law Society president.

“On the Law Societies front, our numbers in 2009 increased to 99 members. A new council was elected for the years 2010 and 2011. The council is made up of 11 elected and appointed persons. Unfortunately, there are still two positions on the council that need to be filled by practitioners with less than the five-year call.

“In 2009, the Law Society had some discussions on liberalisation of trade services with the Attorney General’s Chambers and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. We would be happy to continue with these discussions, as they may in the long-term impact the profession as a whole.

“In the past year, the Law Society was asked to comment on two pieces of legislation – these were, possible amendments to the Companies Act and to the draft Arbitration Order. We are happy to see that the new Arbitration Order has been gazetted as to coming into force.

“On the subject of complaints, there are a number of complaints made against lawyers still outstanding. I understand that the Enquiry Panel (made up of practitioners, counsel from the Attorney General’s Chambers and laypersons) is looking into these. We hope that the additional members to the panel will be able to assist in dealing with these complaints in a timely manner,” he added.

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