CLS in the News

On 22nd June, the Catholic Lawyers gathered together at the church of St Paul the Hermit, Batang Berjuntai, (Bestari Jaya) on the occasion of the feast of St Thomas More, the patron saint of the society.

In conjunction with the feast day and in line with our motto as Catholic Lawyers Society (CLS), and living out its faith through love and service, the Catholic lawyers chose to celebrate the feast of their patron, by way of service. Read more »

High Court Judicial Commissioner, Choong Siew Kim found that the Attorney General had failed to establish a prima case against Rev. Fr. Paulino Miranda.

Fr. Paulino together with 20 others were previously acquitted by the Sessions Court on 18th September 2013. Read more »

CLS Patron, His Grace Archbishop Emeritus Murphy Pakiam celebrated 50 years as a priest.

His Grace was ordained priest on10 May 1964. On 1 April 1995, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Kuala Lumpur. By 24 May 2003 he was made Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur. Read more »

The federal government does not want to resolve the Allah issue in the case of Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill, a Melanau Christian, whose religious items, including compact discs bearing the term 'Allah', were seized by the Customs Department on May 11, 2008.

Her lawyer Annou Xavier said this when the matter came up for case management before deputy registrar N Arun today. Read more »

Malaysia is the only country in the world where non-Muslims are being restrained from using of the word ‘Allah’, claimed Catholic Lawyers’ Society president Joy Appukuttan.

Urging the country to respect the rights of the minority, Joy said there is no basis or justification for one religious group or the executive to dictate another group's choice of words in religious books or publications. Read more »

The life of the 12th Malaysian Parliament will expire on April 29, 2013 upon completion of its 5-year term under Article 55 of the Federal Constitution.

Unless dissolved sooner, a general election (‘GE’) must be called within 60 days of Parliament’s dissolution. Election fever is now at our doorstep.

This fever has spread to Kristus Aman, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur. Read more »

We, the undersigned 73 groups and organisations, welcome Malaysia’s move towards the abolition of the mandatory death penalty for drug offences, and replacing it with jail terms. 

Recently, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz stated that Malaysia is considering withdrawing the mandatory death sentence for drug offences and replacing it with jail terms.(Star, 21/10/2012, Death penalty may be scrapped for drug offences). Read more »

Calling it “restrictive” and “financially oppressive”, lawyers have questioned Putrajaya’s unprecedented move to initiate a civil suit against Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and nine other Bersih leaders for damages sustained during the April 28 rally less than a month under a newly-enforced law allowing public gatherings.

The lawyers contacted by The Malaysian Insider suggested the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government was sowing the seeds of “legal fear” among demonstrators to head off future public expressions of dissent, which they noted ran counter to the constitutional rights of freedom of speech and association. Read more »

The Malaysian Bar is flabbergasted at Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz’s reported announcement that a proposed law academy “can be an alternative” to the Bar, and that the Bar Council “should dissolve itself”.

The Malaysian Bar is opposed to this suggestion, which appears similar to the proposal that the Government had mooted, and subsequently withdrawn, twice in the past. Read more »

CLS Past President, Francis Pereira was arrested at approximately 6.30p.m. yesterday evening and currently held at the Police Station in Jalan Semarak, Titiwangsa, Kuala Lumpur. Approximately 200 over others were also arrested at the Bersih 3.0 rally.

Some 20 over lawyers are waiting outside the Police Station to provide legal assistance to those arrested. At the time of this reporting, those arrested have yet to have been given access to any legal representation. Read more »