41. Upset over CLP ruling
Several Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) law students and graduates are disappointed that they were not informed earlier that they have yet to be exempted from the Certificate in Legal Practice (CLP) examination.
Law graduate Khairunnisa Khazali said she wasn’t told about it by UUM until her second year. She had assumed that she would not need to sit for the CLP.
“I’m very disappointed because I have studied so hard, yet I feel my degree is not as equally recognised as that offered by the other public universities,” she said.
Another UUM law student, who is graduating next month, said she and most of her peers would not be able to afford to take the CLP because it costs RM4,000 for a first-timer.
“Most of us are from the lower middle-income group and our parents have other children to care for. So I hope the Legal Profession Qualifying Board (LPQB) will consider this and grant us exemption,” she said.
LPQB will decide in a few months’ time if UUM’s law degree students should be exempted from taking the CLP exam.
Another graduating student, who declined to be named, said his lecturers had advised students to wait for LPQB’s decision.
He said that some of his friends who graduated last year are still unemployed or are giving tuition while waiting for news on the exemption, following assurances by UUM that its law degree would be recognised.
In a press statement yesterday, UUM deputy vice-chancellor (academic and international) Prof Dr Abdul Razak bin Chik said the university had taken all the necessary steps to ensure that its law degree was recognised by the relevant professional bodies.
“We are confident that it is only a matter of time that the LPQB official recognition is obtained, and the Public Service Department (PSD) can be advised accordingly.” - The Star.
