In a circular to the council’s members and pupils in chambers, its secretary Shahareen Begum said this meant law firms would not be able to operate physically throughout the first phase of the lockdown.
“This invariably raises questions and concerns such as accessibility to law firm premises and files, complying with procedural deadlines as well as directions, since certain court matters would be conducted by virtue of the directives (by the Federal Court),” she said.
Shahareen said the issues had been raised to the chief justice and the legal affairs division of the Prime Minister’s Department.
She said law minister Takiyuddin Hassan was expected to issue a statement later today.
The total nationwide lockdown, similar to that of the first movement control order, comes into effect from tomorrow until June 14.
Meanwhile, the legal fraternity was abuzz with queries about legal firms not being listed as among the essential services.
Many on social media chat groups pointed out that the Federal Court had announced that trials and hearings would either take place online or be adjourned until after the lockdown.
“If certain legal cases have to go on, like what the Federal Court has said, some of us need to work from the office. You cannot expect all the files from the office to be taken home,” lawyer NG Vinod told FMT.
In addition, stricter enforcement of movement control rules might result in the arrest of more people by the police. “These people will definitely need lawyers to appear for them,” he said.
Vinod said Malaysia has about 21,000 lawyers and 6,500 legal firms, with a total of about 45,000 employees.
He hoped legal firms would be allowed to continue operating at 60% capacity.
Lawyer A Srimurugan said accused persons would not have access to counsel of their choice since there was a travel restriction of 10km radius.
“Lawyers cannot represent clients during remand or when charged since the legal sector is not classified as a critical service,” he said.
Counsel M Visvanathan said despite Federal Court chief registrar Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh’s circular that civil matters could proceed, the reality was that legal firms could not open to conduct business as usual.
“Files are kept in the office and we must have access to our premises to conduct online hearings,” he said.
He also said that for some civil suits, lawyers need to meet clients to verify the contents of affidavits and they need to be physically present before a commissioner for oaths to affirm the documents.