The Malaysian Bar is a professional body

Professional body

A professional association is usually a nonprofit organization seeking to further a particular profession, the interests of individuals engaged in that profession, and the public interest.The roles of these professional associations have been variously defined: "A group of people in a...

 which regulates the profession of lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

s in peninsular

Peninsular Malaysia

Peninsular Malaysia , also known as West Malaysia , is the part of Malaysia which lies on the Malay Peninsula. Its area is . It shares a land border with Thailand in the north. To the south is the island of Singapore. Across the Strait of Malacca to the west lies the island of Sumatra...

 Malaysia. In Malaysia, there is no distinction between a barrister

Barrister

A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...

 and a solicitor

Solicitor

Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...

, in that, it is a fused profession. Membership into the bar is automatic and mandatory. The bar was created under the Legal Profession Act 1976. Like other bar association

Bar association

A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...

s around the world, it has a wide range of functions, including, to protect the reputation of the legal profession, to uphold the cause of justice

Justice

Justice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics; justice is the act of being just and/or fair.-Concept of justice:...

, to express its views on matters relating to legislations, and others. The bar also has powers to impose punishment against lawyers for any professional misconducts.

The management of the affairs of the Bar is undertaken by a council known as the Bar Council

Bar council

A bar council , in a Commonwealth country and in the Republic of Ireland, the Bar Council of Ireland is a professional body that regulates the profession of barristers together with the King's Inns. Solicitors are generally regulated by the Law society....

(Malay: Majlis Peguam). The Bar Council consists of 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.

Separate bodies regulate the legal profession in the states of Sabah

Sabah

Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...

 and Sarawak

Sarawak

Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the North- East.The administrative capital is Kuching, which...

. Their bar association are known as the Sabah Law Association and the Advocates' Association of Sarawak respectively.

The bar is headed by a president. As of March 2011, the president of the bar is Lim Chee Wee.

Malayan Bar (1947-1963)

• 1947-1952: E. D. Shearn
• 1953-1960: R. Ramani
• 1960-1961: Morris Edgar
• 1961-1963: R. Ramani

Malaysian Bar

• 1963-1963: Johannes Kerkorel
• 1963-1964: S. M. Yong
• 1964-1973: R. R. Chelliah
• 1973-1974: Chan Hua Eng
• 1974-1976: V. C. George
• 1976-1978: Raja Aziz Addruse
  Raja Aziz Addruse
  Raja Abdul Aziz bin Raja Addruse was a Malaysian lawyer. He served as President of the Bar Council three times and was a commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists. Raja Aziz is considered one of Malaysia's most respected lawyers...
  
  
• 1978-1980: Abdullah A. Rahman
• 1980-1982: G. T. S. Sidhu
• 1982-1984: S. Sivasubaramaniam
• 1984-1986: Ronald Khoo
• 1986-1988: Param Cumaraswamy
• 1988-1989: Raja Aziz Addruse
• 1989-1991: S. Theivanthiran
• 1991-1992: Manjeet Singh Dhillon
• 1992-1993: Raja Aziz Addruse
• 1993-1995: Zainur Zakaria
• 1995-1997: Hendon Haji Abdullah
• 1997-1999: Cyrus V. Das
• 1999-2000: R. R. Chelvarajah
• 2000-2001: Haji Sulaiman Abdullah
• 2001-2003: Mah Weng Kwai
• 2003-2005: Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari
• 2005-2007: Yeo Yang Poh
• 2007-2009: Ambiga Sreenevasan
  Ambiga Sreenevasan
  Dato' Ambiga Sreenevasan is a Malaysian lawyer who served as the President of the Malaysian Bar Council from 2007 to 2009. She is a former student of Convent Bukit Nanas and served as the Head Prefect in 1975....
  
  
• 2009-2011: Ragunath Kesavan
• 2011-present: Lim Chee Wee