Malaysia legislation
Section 37
Section 37
(a)
acts as an advocate and solicitor or an agent for any party to proceedings or in any capacity, other than as a party to an action in which he is himself a party, sues out any writ, summons or process, or commences, carries on, solicits or defends any action, suit or other proceedings in the name of any other person in any of the Courts in Malaysia or draws or prepares any instrument relating to any proceedings in any such Courts; or
(b)
wilfully or falsely pretends to be, or takes or uses any name, title, addition or description implying that he is duly qualified or authorized to act as an advocate and solicitor, or that he is recognized by law as so qualified or authorized, shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding two thousand five hundred ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both.
(2)
Without prejudice to the generality of subsections (1) and (2A), any unauthorized person who either directly or indirectly—
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(a)
draws or prepares any document or instrument relating to any immovable property or to any legal proceedings or to any trust; or
(b)
takes instructions for or draws or prepares any document on which to found or oppose a grant of probate or letters of administration; or
(c)
draws or prepares any document or instrument relating to the incorporation or formation of a limited company; or
(d)
on behalf of a claimant or person alleging himself to have a claim to a legal right writes, publishes or sends a letter or notice threatening legal proceedings other than a letter or notice that the matter will be handed to an advocate and solicitor for legal proceedings; or
(e)
solicits the right to negotiate, or negotiate in any way for the settlement of, or settles, any claim arising out of personal injury or death and founded upon a legal right or otherwise, shall, unless he proves that the act was not done for or in expectation of any fee, gain or reward, be guilty of an offence under this subsection.
(2A)
Any unauthorized person who does or solicits the right to do any act which is customarily within the function or responsibility of an advocate and solicitor, including but not limited to advising on law, whether Malaysian or otherwise, unless he proves that the act was not done for or in expectation of any fee, gain or reward, shall be guilty of an offence under this subsection.
(2B)
Subsection (2A) shall not apply to a foreign lawyer who —
(a)
is duly authorized or registered to practise law in a state or territory other than Malaysia; and
(b)
enters Malaysia to advise or consult with a client on matters pertaining to law not involving any aspect of Malaysian law, provided always that the accumulated period of stay of that foreign lawyer shall not exceed sixty days in total in
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any one calendar year and that immigration authorization for each period of stay shall have first been obtained.
(3)
Any unauthorized person who offers or agrees to place at the disposal of any other person the services of an advocate and solicitor shall be guilty of an offence under this subsection:
Provided that this subsection shall not apply to any person who offers or agrees to place at the disposal of any other person the services of an advocate and solicitor pursuant to a lawful contract of indemnity or insurance.
(4)
Every person who is convicted of an offence under subsection (2), (2A) or (3) shall, on conviction, be liable for the first offence to a fine not exceeding five hundred ringgit or in default of payment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months and for the second or subsequent offence to a fine not exceeding two thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both.
(5)
Any act done by a body corporate which if done by a person would be an offence under subsection (1), (2) or (3) or is of the nature or in the manner as to be calculated to imply that the body corporate is qualified, or recognized by law as qualified, to act as an advocate and solicitor shall be an offence under this section and the body corporate shall, on conviction, be liable for the first offence to a fine not exceeding one thousand ringgit and for the second or subsequent offence to a fine not exceeding three thousand ringgit and where the act is done by a director, officer or servant thereof the director, officer or servant shall, without prejudice to the liability of the body corporate, be liable to the punishment provided in subsection (4).
(6)
Where any firm does an act which if done by a person would be an offence under subsection (1), (2) or (3) every member of the firm shall be deemed to have committed the offence unless he proves that he was unaware of its commission.
(7)
Any person who does any act in relating to a contemplated or instituted proceeding in the High Court which act is an offence under this section shall also be guilty of a contempt of the Court in which the
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proceeding is contemplated or instituted and may be punished accordingly irrespective of whether he is prosecuted for the offence or not.
Sections 36 and 37 not to apply to arbitral proceedings