The Star quoted Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman Said, who oversees legal matters, as saying the Legal Profession Qualification Board issued certificates to all CLP candidates who passed the examinations.

“The qualification board has never practised a passing quota system. All decisions related to the CLP examinations are done in a fair, transparent and professional manner,” she said in a written reply to Teresa Kok (DAP-Seputeh) in the Dewan Rakyat.

The minister said candidates were only allowed to re-sit their examinations four times, not eight, after paying a RM4,000 registration fee each time.

She was quoted as saying a blueprint for the legal profession, being drawn up by a special committee, would cover issues such as amendments to the Legal Profession Act and CLP examinations.

The CLP has become an issue following the Legal Profession Qualification Board’s decision, announced on Dec 21, to amend the rules to limit the number of exam sittings to four from the previous unlimited number of sittings.

This sudden move was criticised by many in the legal profession, including Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran who said it would deny candidates from poor financial backgrounds entry into the legal profession.

Calling on the attorney-general, as chairman of the board, to explain the rationale for this decision, he had added: “The sole purpose the CLP was established was to allow students who can’t afford to sit for their Bar in the United Kingdom to do it here.”