KOTA KINABALU: The Association of Muslim Lawyers Sabah (Amal) opposes the proposed extension of the Legal Profession Act 2019 (LPA 2019) to Sabah and Sarawak, supporting the stand taken by the Sabah Law Society (SLS) and Advocates Association of Sarawak (AAS). Amal president Ansari Abdullah added that they opposed the proposal to repeal the Sabah Advocates Ordinance 1953 as well. "The drafters of the proposed LPA Bill are clearly ignorant of the arrangements agreed upon under the Inter-Governmental Committee Report 1962 (IGC62) and the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), which were crystallised into Article 161B of the Federal Constitution. "While we recognise that the existing LPA Act 1976 contains identical extension and repeal provisions, such should not be included in this current LPA Bill or any future or similar legislation," they said. According to them, law practitioners in Sabah and Sarawak are capable of handling legal matters in their own states without interference from "outsiders".

Source: The Star April 28, 2019 09:45 UTC