All advocates and solicitors of the High Court of Malaya and pupils shall be subject for the purposes of all disciplinary actions to the control of the Disciplinary Board.

Any advocate and solicitor who has been found guilty of any misconduct shall be liable to be reprimanded or censured or ordered to pay a fine or suspended from practice for a period not exceeding five years or be struck off the Roll of Advocates & Solicitors, as the case may be.    Under section 94(3) of the Legal Profession Act,"misconduct" means conduct or omission to act in Malaysia or elsewhere by an advocate and solicitor in a professional capacity or otherwise which amounts to grave impropriety and includes:-

(a) conviction of a criminal offence which makes him unfit to be a member of his profession;

(b) breach of duty to a court including any failure by him to comply with an undertaking given to a court;

(c) dishonest or fraudulent conduct in the discharge of his duties;

(d) breach of any rule of practice and etiquette of the profession made by the Bar Council under the Act or otherwise;

(e) being adjudicated a bankrupt and being found guilty of any of the acts or omissions mentioned in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (e), (f), (h), (k) or (l) of section 33 (6) of the Bankruptcy Act 1967 or any amendments thereto;

(f) the tendering or giving of any gratification to any person for having procured the employment in any legal business of himself or any other advocate and solicitor;

(g) directly or indirectly procuring or attempting to procure the employment of himself or any other advocate and solicitor through or by the introduction of any person to whom any remuneration for obtaining such employment has been given by him or agreed or promised to be so given;

(h) accepting employment in any legal business through a tout;

(i) allowing any unauthorized person to carry on legal business in his name without his direct and immediate control as principal or without proper supervision;

(j) the carrying on by himself, directly or indirectly, of any profession, trade, business or calling which is incompatible with the legal profession or being employed for reward or otherwise in any such profession, trade, business or calling;

(k) the breach of any provision of the Act or of any rules made there under or any direction or ruling of the Bar Council*;

(l) the disbarment, striking off, suspension or censure in his capacity as a legal practitioner in any other country or being guilty of conduct which would render him to be punished in any other country;

(m) the charging, in the absence of a written agreement, in respect of professional services rendered to a client, of fees or costs which are grossly excessive in all the circumstances;

(n) gross disregard of his client's interests; and

(o) being guilty of any conduct which is unbefitting of an advocate and solicitor or which brings or is calculated to bring the legal profession into disrepute.

*Breach of other Rules includes breach of:-

 i)    Bar Council Rules and Rulings;

ii)    Legal Profession (Practice and Etiquette) Rules 1978;

iii)   Solicitors' Account Rules 1990, Solicitors' (Deposit Interest) Rules 1990;,

iv)   Solicitors' Remuneration Order 2005; and

v)    Solicitors' Remuneration (Multi-Currency) Trade Finance and Indirect Exporter Financing Schemes) Order 2006

Interpretation

Unless the context otherwise requires:-

"advocate and solicitor concerned" means the advocate and solicitor or pupil against whom a complaint has been made under the Act;

"complainant" means the party who has made a complaint, whether personally or through its representative or through his solicitor, and includes the Bar Council and any State Bar Committee;

"complaint" means a written complaint concerning the misconduct of an advocate and solicitor or a pupil;

"Director" means the Director of the Complaints Secretariat appointed under section 98 of the Act.