An end to the wait, 277 graduates take their lawyer's oath

277 people who completed the Bar Council’s special training program have taken their oath as lawyers.

Their oath was administered by High Court judge Mohamed Niyaz in a virtual ceremony on Saturday evening.

The ceremony was attended by Chief Justice Muthasim Adnan, who, in his speech, advised the new lawyers continue to better themselves through learning and experience.

He said that those who join the legal field motivated solely by financial gain will not achieve true success.

He said that lawyers should be well-spoken and good listeners, and should learn to identify the key information in a sea of information, and make decisions.

They should also have the skill for research, he said.

The ceremony was also attended by former Attorney General Dr. Mohamed Munawwar, who advised the new lawyers on the importance of enriching themselves with knowledge and information, and maintaining a code of conduct.

Legal Profession Act, enacted last year, establishes that law graduates must sit in the bar exams to obtain their legal license. However, the failure to prepare the bar exams rendered hundreds of law graduate unable to practice law.

In a bid to resolve the issue, the Legal Profession Act was amended to exempt current law graduates from having to sit in the bar exams to obtain their legal license, if they pass a one-month training program run by the Bar Council.

However, those who receive their license through the program are required to sit in the bar exam once it’s prepared.

The special training program was held from September 23-28, and was completed by 283 law graduates.

277 of them took their oath this Saturday.