Interview with Ragunath Kesavan

President of the Bar Council of Malaysia

Biography:

Ragunath Kesavan was elected as the President of the Malaysian Bar Council in March 2009. Ragunath is a highly courageous and well respected President of the Malaysian Bar Council and continues the important work of the Council in pursuing issues of justice. He had formerly served in the role of Secretary of the Bar Council as well.

The Malaysian Bar Council regulates the legal profession in peninsular Malaysia. Separate bodies regulate the legal profession in the states of Sabah and Sarawak. All lawyers (there is no distinction between barristers and solicitors in Malaysia) are automatically members of the Bar, and it is compulsory to maintain membership whilst practising. The Malaysian Bar Council has a wide range of functions, including to protect the reputation of the legal profession, to uphold the cause of justice, and to express its views on matters relating to legislations. The Bar also has powers to impose punishment against lawyers for any professional misconduct.

The affairs of the Bar are managed by the Bar Council. Members of the Bar elect their Council which consists of the president, the immediate past president and vice-president of the Malaysian Bar, the chairman and elected members of each State Bar Committees, and other elected members.

The Malaysian Bar Council is a highly respected non-governmental organisation that has taken an active role in issues around justice and democracy in Malaysia. The Bar Council has campaigned for human rights, religious freedom, women’s rights and highlighted numerous issues such deaths in government custody, corruption, the rape of indigenous Penan school children by individuals involved in the timber industry in Malaysian Borneo, institutionalised racism and discrimination.

This video is still in post-production. The final version of this video will be uploaded to YouTube and made available through this website.