Lyna Mohamad
The number of law graduates with professional qualifications from either Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA) or foreign institutions are increasing from year to year, which has led to a tight and challenging competition in the legal field.
Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Dato Seri Setia Haji Awang Abdul Mokti bin Haji Mohd Daud said this in his keynote address at the opening of the Basic Advocacy Course yesterday.
“Through the strategies set out in the PMO Strategic Plan 2021-2025, the office will continue to commit to working with agencies to address the issue,” he added.
The minister also iterated His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam’s titah during the 10th Hafl Al-Takharruj Ceremony of UNISSA where the monarch called for the graduates to be more proactive.
“Graduates should seize every opportunity and cultivate an inclination towards self-development, as obtaining a degree is not the end of all things in the constant search for knowledge and Islam views the pursuit of knowledge as a lifelong obligation,” the monarch had said in the titah.
The minister believed the Basic Advocacy Course provides professionally qualified legal graduates with knowledge and experience related to advocacy to ensure they excel in the
legal field.
Dato Seri Setia Haji Awang Abdul Mokti hoped the course will nurture legal professionals to ensure that the laws of the country are upheld, and peace and harmony maintained by the people, in line with the development and progress of the Sultanate as detailed in Brunei Vision 2035.
The course, he said, will also provide added value to the participants to improve their efficiency and skills in the field of advocacy and consequently elevate their marketability to face professional challenges.
Dato Seri Setia Haji Awang Abdul Mokti called for participants to take advantage of the knowledge imparted, as they are the successors in the legal sector and will bear the responsibility of ensuring the sovereignty of the constitution as well as the laws in the Sultanate are guaranteed.
The event, conducted by the PMO in collaboration with the Attorney General’s Chambers, Civil Court and the Law Society of Brunei Darussalam, was held at the Banquet Hall, PMO building.
Chief Syari’e Judge Pehin Orang Kaya Paduka Seri Utama Dato Paduka Seri Setia Haji Awang Salim bin Haji Besar, Chief Justice of the Brunei Supreme Court Dato Seri Paduka Steven Chong and the Attorney General Haji Ahmad bin Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Bakti Diraja Dato Laila Utama Haji Awang Isa also attended.
Permanent secretaries and deputy permanent secretaries at the PMO, chief registrars and judicial commissioners, solicitor general, judges and senior government officers were
also present.
The two-day course, which ends today, will be delivered by speakers and trainees consisting of judges, magistrates, deputy public prosecutors as well as senior lawyers from public and private law firms, specialised and experienced in the area of advocacy the criminal and civil laws.
The graduates will be given an opportunity to present their arguments based on real-life
court processes.
