N Sivananthan said advocacy in this area of law was crucial and lawyers must “think on their feet”.
“Criminal law is trial by ambush and there are elements of surprise where a lawyer must be able to digest issues on the spot before conducting cross examination,” he said.
Sivananthan said lawyers were also under constant pressure over the consequences of losing their cases, especially those that involve the death penalty.
“As such, many young lawyers shy away from criminal practice and prefer to venture into other areas of law,” he added.
Sivananthan said criminal law was different compared with civil law as the latter was about confining the case to the “four corners of pleadings”.
He said this in response to Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria, who had expressed concern over the acute shortage of lawyers taking up criminal cases, including drug trafficking and murder, both of which carried the death sentence.
Speaking to reporters after the ceremonial opening of the 2017 judicial legal year recently, Arifin said this could be due to unattractive monetary returns compared with civil law practice.
The top judge made the remark in reaction to a question on what the judiciary was doing to expedite trials against those charged with murder and drug trafficking but languished in jail for a long time since no bail could be offered.
Arifin said proceedings were also held up as accused persons also wanted to obtain the services of lawyers of their own choice.
Sivananthan said clients and their families wanted to pick reputable counsel as it involved the possible loss of life in the event that the court found the accused guilty.
He said the current pool of senior lawyers were stagnant and would become smaller with junior lawyers not inclined to replace their seniors.
Arifin had also mentioned a shortage of chemists that is hampering the quick disposal of cases.
Sivananthan said a trial could not begin sooner than expected because chemists took about six months to prepare their report as evidence in court.