Pointless Study

I'm running low on gigabytes...
Those who know me well would probably know how much I hate memory work and how bad I am with it.
Oh man, the things I do for See Elle Pee!!!!!

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I'm in the midst of revising Ethics and Advocacy now; which forms 40% (Part A of my Professional Practice paper). For the records, Professional Practice comprises of 5 subjects; Ethics, Advocacy, Bankruptcy, Land Law and Wills & Probate. 9 questions from which 5 are to be chosen, and answers to the above questions are to be written in 3 hours.

I've finally finished reading up Ethics albeit RELUCTANTLY. I was in a 'laugai'/protest mode for the earlier part of this week as I felt that this subject (Ethics) is pointless.

1. Memory Work>Understanding
My aversion towards Ethics began with the fact that we are not allowed to bring our statute books into the exam halls for this paper (apart from the National Land Code - for the Land Law section). Thus, this means the ruthless and heartless people around have made sure we have the total joy of memorising a grand total of god knows how many Acts JUST FOR PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE alone! Now, did I not mention that we need to 'sub-contract'/'sub-let' some of our brain cells to the rest of the subjects too? We still have Criminal Procedure, Civil Procedure, Evidence and General Paper to contend with.

Now let me see...

(Note: Might get most of the years wrong... :P)
Probate & Adminstration Act 1959, Wills Act 1959, Distribution Act 1958, SEDA 1955?, PTCA 19??, Legal Profession Act 1976, Legal Profession (Practice & Etiquette) Rules 1978, Solicitor's Remuneration Order 2005, Solicitor's Accounts Rules 1990, Legal Profession Publicity Rules 2001, Solicitor's Accounts (Deposit Interest Rules) 19??, National Land Code, Bankruptcy Act 1967?, Bankruptcy Rules 19??, Company's Winding Up Rules 1969?...

AND
Criminal Procedure Code (can bring statute book), Penal Code (can bring statute book), Civil Law Act, Rules of the High Court 1980 (can bring statute book), Subordinate Courts Rules (can bring statute book), Courts of Judicature Act 1964, Subordinate Courts Act 1948, Limitation Act, Contract Act 1950, Rules of the Court of Appeal, Rules of the Federal Court, and the bits and pieces of the Federal Consitution...

And this brings us to a grand total of 15 (Read: fifteen, lima belas, 十五, quinze, 한국어, vijftien) Acts and 309543095 provisions in the Acts, just for the Professional Practice paper. Plus, a zillion others for the other 4 subjects.

Quote and unquote VCKY:
This is torture and is cruel.
Be realistic man! How can you expect us to memorise and cite the precise statutory provisions??!!??? I know it is possible under pressure, but will these pointless memory work serve us any purpose in the future?

Being able to cite the relevant provisions of the Act does not make one a better lawyer! Would being able to recall (for example) Rule 28 Legal Profession (Practice and Etiquette) Rules 1978 serve you any good in the working world? Will remembering S94(3) of the Legal Profession Act 1976 help you?

Oh yes, did I not mention that we have to remember the case names too? Would being able to memorise and regurgitate cases help be in the future?

Answer: No!

Picture this...

Client: Do this, this, this.....
Me: No, I can't cause it's contrary to S245 of the Legal Profession Act 1976, further supported by the case of AG v Arthur Lee...

This part of the paper more or less resembles the Pendidikan Moral paper we had in our SPM. We memorized all the 81 nilai-s along with the requisite definition(s) for the exam. But does it make us a better person? Would an A1 in Moral on your SPM certificate mean anything?

Answer: No!

I got an A1 for Moral, but hey... look at me now... :P Would I be any different had I got a C3???

2. Serves NO Practical Purpose
Yes, why study Ethics when the CLP is supposed to be a course aimed towards familiarising us with the Malaysia legal procedure.

Although some may say that Ethics ought to be taught at this level to expose budding lawyers of the ethical aspects of the job. But then, this could be done via e.g. Bar Council training, etc and not by means of an exam!

It's just a total waste of time and resources!!! Would probably be better if we spent more time focusing on other subjects instead of mugging for Ethics!

Ethics is something that requires a practical approach to it and is certainly NOT memory work. I can memorise Rules 1 - 50 of the Legal Profession (Practice & Etiquette) Rules 1978. So what??? Does this mean that LV's Morals>Guy who only memorises Rules 1-10??

Answer: No!

It probably shows that LV's more kiasu and does better with rote learning. Habis cerita!

3. Res judicata @ Double Jeopardy
All these hard work done does not serve us any good in the future. Yes, we may know about the dos and don'ts of the profession. But, we are to sit for an Ethics Exam during our pupilage. Hence, does it not mean double work for the examiners and 'double jeopardy' for us, the pupils?? This is totally against the rule of res judicata. *Oh, Baljit would be so proud of me!*

Pass already, still need to sit again for the same whole thing during Chambering.

Apa hal ni!!!! Mangkuk la tu!!!!


Good night, babe!

-LV-
*in the midst of dozing off in front of the computer