Published: Friday July 3, 2009 MYT 5:11:00 PM
Updated: Friday July 3, 2009 MYT 5:12:38 PM
Bar Council: 80pc of court cases handled in Bahasa Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR: Almost 80 per cent of the 13,000 lawyers in the country use Bahasa Malaysia in handling cases in court, said the Bar Council.
Its Bahasa Malaysia Committee chairman Muhammad Hasif Hassan said although the lawyers had difficulty in using Bahasa Malaysia, especially in grammar and translating English legal terms into the national language, its usage had increased in the last five years.
“It is quite difficult to translate legal language into the language of everyday use, but we are confident that Bahasa Malaysia is suitable for use in the legal field and we target full use of the language in the near future.
“The terminology, grammar and sentence structure in the legal language are different from the language of everyday use but to enhance our proficiency, we are working closely with Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) to hold a Bahasa Malaysia course for all lawyers,” he told reporters after meeting DBP director general Datuk Termuzi Abdul Aziz on Friday.
He hoped that the lawyers’ Bahasa Malaysia proficiency acquired through the course could erase the perception among certain quarters that anything to do with law should be in English.
“Although all lawyers are encouraged to use Bahasa Malaysia in court, there are times when we face difficulty to interpret certain things in Bahasa Malaysia, so we are forced to use English to explain the meaning. We hope to solve this problem with DBP’s cooperation,” he said.
Termuzi said that apart from the course syllabus, DBP would also work together with the Bar Council to translate legal terms into Bahasa Malaysia.
He said although most lawyers did their legal studies in English, their initiative to use Bahasa Malaysia in their work must be commended and supported. - Bernama.
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