KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7 – Former Chief Justice of Malaysia Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad said it was imperative for law graduates to be proficient in the English language for gainful employment in the legal sector.
He pointed to the fact that English proficiency was not only one of the criteria to land a job at established and leading legal firms but also in the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) and judicial institutions.
“Almost 95 percent of cases being heard in the Court of Appeal and Federal Court are in English. Being proficient in the Malay language is equally important. But lawyers who can master both languages can go far,” he told Bernama when contacted.
He said given today’s reality, higher learning institutions should endeavour to produce law graduates who were competent in both Malay and English.
“If the institutions merely focus on the use of Malay for law students to graduate it would be consequential in that there would be a surplus of them who might not be able to compete in the job market,” he opined.
Recalling his 40 years’ experience in the judiciary, he said there were some high court and session court judges, as well as court officers who not only put themselves but also the AGC, courts and Judicial Appointments Commission in a dilemma for failing to master English.
Meanwhile, Abdul Hamid said in the 90s, every high court judge was required to write at least one grounds of judgement a month, in Malay.
“Young Malay judges and some non Malay judges had no trouble doing it. But non Malay judges appointed from among the lawyers did not follow it. I was among the judges who wrote most of their judgements in Malay.
“But I find that law journals are less keen to report judgements in Malay. Even if the judgements were in Malay, not many would read them. Today many high court judges who write in Malay are those who are less comfortable with writing in English.
“When I was with the sessions court, I wrote a number of important judgements pertaining to the conflict of jurisdiction between civil and syariah courts in Malay so that it would be read by judges and syariah court officers.
“I don’t know whether they read them or not. But if I were to write again today I will write in English because it would be widely read,” he said.
– BERNAMA
