The Kuala Lumpur Bar Blog

Dear Members of the KL Bar, Technical Visit to Coastal Protection Sites, Port Dickson on 18.10.2008. Jointly organised by the KL Bar Environmental Law Committee and Institution of Engineers Malaysia In 2005, the Government had successfully completed a handful of beach protection projects in Port Dickson. These efforts were commendable and were prompted by the need to bring back some of the lustre that the beaches from Batu 1 to Batu 5 once had. The visit will take participants on a tour of selected areas of the Port Dickson shoreline to spend some time by the sea while being briefed on coastal development issues and shore protection techniques by Engr Nor Hisham Mohd Ghazali, Head of Erosion Control, Jabatan Pengairan dan Saliran Malaysia. You will be joined by engineers and the experience will provide some insight into coastal engineering and shore protection techniques. Works include beach nourishment and re-nourishment, the installation of a beach drainage system known as Beach Mana

Dear members of the KL Bar, New Practice for Exparte and Interpartes Applications at the KL Subordinate Court We have been notified that the Subordinate Courts have now implemented the practice, not only for new Summons but for Applications (“Notis Permohonan”) that the sealed copy of the application will be immediately given back upon filing, with a return date endorsed thereon. A 3 months’ date will be given for exparte application and a 6 months’ date for inter partes application (save where there is an accompanying certificate of urgency). As such, any date given during the mention of the Summons may not match with that in the Notis Permohonan although the applicant can inform the Court of the already fixed mention date and request that the dates match. Cases fixed before Yang Arif Puan Lau Bee Lan We have been informed by the Appellate and Miscellaneous Matters Division of the KL High Court of a new schedule for all cases fixed before Yang Arif Puan Lau Bee Lan (Court 1). Members

ANNOUNCEMENT Legal WorkBench, the Comprehensive Online Legal Resource for Malaysian Practitioners is Now Available, Free of Charge, at the Bar Room of Duta Court Complex The KL Bar, in collaboration with Crimsonlogic Sdn Bhd, is pleased to offer free access to Legal Workbench, the premier online legal research service for practitioners of Malaysian law at the Duta Court Complex. The KL Bar will make Legal Workbench available at its computer terminals at the Bar Room, Left Wing, 5th Floor of the Duta Court Complex. The KL Bar Committee will charge its normal fee for usage of the computer terminals but there will be no additional charge imposed on members of the Bar for usage of Legal Workbench. The service will be officially introduced to members of the KL Bar on Monday, 25 August 2008. The details of the launch are as follows: Date : Monday, 25 August 2008 Venue : Bar Room, Left Wing 5th Floor, Jalan Duta Court Complex, Kuala Lumpur Time : 10am to 11am Admission is free Members of th

David Newton, managing director of LexisNexisMalaysia/Singapore, flags off the participants.Flanking him are Phillip (right) and Ravindra Kumar. T he Sun (with permission) A total of 360 lawyers and corporate executives in 91 cars took part in the 3rd Annual LexisNexis-KL Bar Treasure Hunt over the weekend and raised RM22,000 for a good cause. "We are very pleased with the response to this year’s hunt," said Phillip Karuppiah, general manager of LexisNexis Malaysia. "I have been told by a number of regular hunters that the treasure hunting fraternity now considers the LexisNexis-KL Bar Hunt one of the major not-to-be-missed events in the annual treasure hunt calendar. "In fact, we actually had to turn down some late entries." LexisNexis donated RM13,200 to Philea Home, a home for underprivileged children that the company has adopted. The money will be used to finance the educational needs of the children at the home. "We adopted Philea Home as part of our

The fourth Annual LexisNexis-KL Bar Treasure Hunt was held over the weekend in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. The hunt which has now become a permanent fixture on KL Bar’s social calendar managed to draw a record number of participants with a total of 91 teams participating and managed to raise a total of RM 13,200 for the Philea Home for children. As with previous years, the teams were divided into two categories. There was a closed category for lawyers and sponsors and an open category for the general public. The hunt was flagged off by the Kuala Lumpur Bar Chairman R. Ravindra Kumar at 7.30 am in Subang Jaya and saw teams canvassing the Taipan, Puchong, Damansara Heights and Batu Cave areas for answers to cryptic questions and clues that could be found on the signboards of shops along the preplanned route. The teams were given a total of six hours to complete the hunt after which two points were deducted from a team's score for every five minutes that a team exceeded the time limit.

KL Bar Professional Development CommitteeConference Sponsorship Programme 2008/09 Dear members of the KL Bar, Sponsorship to attend the 21st Lawasia Conference - “Challenging Asia” 29 October to 1 November 2008, KL Convention Centre, Kuala Lumpur The KL Bar Professional Development Committee (“PDC”) is pleased to announce that the Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee intends to sponsor 5 members of the KL Bar of between 4 to 7 years of practice to attend the 21st Lawasia Conference scheduled to be held from 29 October to 1 November 2008 at the KL Convention Centre. Those interested, please complete the Application Form and e-mail ( klbc@klbar.org.my ) or fax (26911090) it to the KL Bar Secretariat by 8 September 2008. A selection process will be carried out and only successful candidates will be notified. If necessary, the PDC will conduct an interview of the applicants. Click here for the Application form. For more info on the Conference, you may log on to http://www.lawasiakl2008.org/ . Yours

Members should be receiving the first issue of Relevan for the run of 2008/09 very shortly. In this issue, the Relevan team has put together a host of different articles which we hope you find of interest. The Editorial focuses on the revelations from the Royal Commission report on the VK Lingam videotape controversy and what appears to be the glacial movement of the investigations thereafter. This is in contrast with the speedy investigations into recent sodomy allegations and with the imminent filing of criminal charges. The Editorial is clear that it is imperative that further action must be taken in relation to the findings made by the Royal Commission. Our first article in this issue is by Sudharsanan Thillainathan, who takes us through a detailed analysis of the fundamental right of Legal Professional Privilege and highlights some recent developments in Australia and the United Kingdom relating to this right. Richard Wee kicks off a series of criminal law articles by touching

In the fast moving pace of the world, legal professionals must stay updated and keep informed on trends and evolving landscape of commercial, criminal and media law. The 21st LawAsia conference features speakers from around the region who will share their insights and experience in these areas of the law and more. The conference will help legal professionals - and through them, their clients - navigate the vast and fluid waters of Asia-Pacific-related law, turning obstacles into opportunities at the lightning-quick speed of the 21st century. The Conference will showcase over 30 sessions including 4 plenaries , featuring 90 speakers from over the region. Representatives from some of the region's most respected law firms are serving as moderators and panelists. The 21st LawAsia conference in Kuala Lumpur is also the inaugural annual LawAsia conference and it represents a permanent shift from the traditional biennial conferences. The conference therefore enjoys great historical