UITM SHAH ALAM LAW SCHOOL 2021 (LL.B (hons.))

LAW SCHOOL (ODL): MY EXPERIENCE DURING SEMESTER 1

Hi lovely people! I know it has been a while since I last update my blog. It is not that I don't want to write and share, it just that I couldn't find any suitable free time to write. But, I do have some times to update my blog! Oh btw, latest update is that I'm currently in my second semester while juggling with some events in an NGO as the social media manager, be a mentor to 5 mentees in Buddy Mentor Program (whereby I have to guide the non-asasi law students who being offered LL.B), and I was appointed to be the head of Multimedia and Technical under LAWSOCUITM for our upcoming events. Not gonna lie, my degree life takes my leisure times hahahaha. Too much commitment but alhamdulillah I am still doing fine. If you read my previous posts, you'll know that I am an active person. 

Okay, in this post, I'd like to share with you my experience going through ODL for my law degree (Semester 1). IT IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT, I TELL YOU PEOPLE! I have to shift from happy days in physical class during asasi to super stressful online class. So, do you think I survived?

Before you make a guess, let me explain to you the law subjects and other subjects I learnt during semester 1.

1. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW I

First of all, I'm very grateful for having Sir Nazim as my lecturer for both lecture and tutorial. Constitutional law might be similar to Malaysian legal system back then during asasi but this is more in details. If you are to pursue LLB in UITM later, you must know that you'll learn constitutional law from the basic. But fret not, I personally find this subject interesting! Sir Nazim is the one who will teach everything and he loves to provide us with tons of research materials as well as the critical questions. I do love the way he taught because I personally cannot digest with "slow-lullaby kind of" class. I am good if any lecturers gives me extra extra information. Sometimes, I feel like I was in a class doing Masters of Law when I was in his class.

But, for some people they find it difficult to go with his teaching style and I do truly understand that. So, what I can suggest to you is to always create a specific google docs for you to write everything in there. What I usually do is that I will create two columns, one for the questions and one for the answers. During the lecture, I will write all the extra information/explanation there and update the row accordingly. Instead of writing a paragraph which I found it quite uncomfortable for my eyes, I decided to make it like this to ensure my eyes can focus better. Like, you'll read the specific question and your eyes will directly read the answer in the next column.

Alright, now I'm going to explain a little bit on the topics which you'll cover in this subject if you study in UITM law school. You'll learn the difference between rule of law and rule by law. What is that? Basically, rule of law seeks for justice and protects citizens' rights but rule by law is when the government authority takes over to rule and ignore the rights of the people. Next, you'll learn the concept of constitutionalism. One thing I can say is that even though many countries are having their own constitutions, it doesn't mean they are applying constitutionalism. Also, you'll be learning basic features of the Federal Constitution and the Affirmative Action which will make you go wonder a lot over unfair system hhuuhu. Last part which is also the integral part is the fundamental liberties covered under Article 5 to 13 of the Federal Constitution. If you do have any opportunities to do any case review under Article 11 (freedom of religion), go for it! I was scared to do it at first since my other friends are doing for the Article 5 and Article 10. But, I must say I never regret doing it because I have learnt a lot. I studied the arguments and ratio decidendi in Indira Gandhi's case with other relevant case law such as Lina Joy's case and Dalip Kaur's case. The arguments and the reason of judgments will make you understand better, trust me!

2. CONTRACT LAW I

In contract law I, you'll be learning the elements of valid contract. If you are coming from asasi, you'll might find this a bit easier for you since you are already familiar. However, do not feel too comfortable with the knowledge you have because you are going to learn more than just the surface. More information = more confusions. Contract is very essential because whatever we do in our life, most of them require valid contract, hence that is why you must understand well and focus. Most of the times, you'll be referring to the Contracts Act 1950 to cite any relevant provisions in you answer. 

My tips is that, if you can't really understand after a few times flip-reflip the pages of your contract law book, go google any law firm's website. This is because sometimes, there are some law firms which will update the basic explanation on their practice area. Read why this happens and what is the consequences. Also, when you write your answer for L in ILAC, please write in in the correct order which means you go first with the definition of contract provided in the Contracts Act, then briefly explain what are the elements to have a valid contract. After that explain the relevant element, the condition stated under the Act and the consequences. Then, apply. You cannot jump from one thing to another which sometimes it does not have any correlation at all. It is going to waste most of your times. 

3. LAW OF TORT I

For tort, we do not have specific statute like contract law. But, tort is something which you'll find interesting because you deal with common real life situation. For example, negligence. Most of the people know what negligence is but not all are able to establish that there is a negligence from the defendant. So, how do you answer the question? Refer back to the elements of negligence one by one. Is there any duty of care owed by the defendant? Has the defendant breached the duty of care? Is there any damage on behalf of the plaintiff? If yes, the defendant is held liable for negligence. But, it is not as easy like that, you must prove it through your application and how you relate the question with the reason of judgment/principles in any cases you cited in Law (ILAC) determines your mark. 

You may always refer to Law Express for tort (UK edition) because I always go for this for quick revision. But, if you think Norchaya's Talib book is sufficient, then it is good enough I must say. 

4. MALAYSIAN LEGAL SYSTEM

This subject, some people view it interesting and some will say no. At the beginning of the lessons, you'll learn the history hahaha you might be sleepy but let's learn it as to gain knowledge. Then, there is customary law which divided into Malay, Indian, Chinese, Natives Sabah and Sarawak. Also, the most important part is the court system and the judicial precedent. Please read these two carefully. For the court system, you'll be given a question of a situation with the disputes etc. At the end of the question, it requires you to determine which court will hear the case? See, that's why I would like to remind you to always study the court system well so that you won't write wrong court or else you lose marks. For a teenager aged 17 who commited theft, which court will hear the case? The Court for Children (juvenile court). What about if the situation states that the cousin of the Sultan aged 35 commits any wrongful act? Will he be brought to the Special Court because he has relation to the Sultan? These are the possible questions. Even if the question states a normal citizen aged above 18 involved in the car accident and would like to claim, you must be very careful in determining which court will hear the case.

For the doctrine of judicial precedent, remember which court will bind another and which court cannot bind but must follow the upper courts' decision. This is very important because in Malaysia, we do apply this doctrine.

5. OTHER SUBJECTS 

CTU - basically you will learn about the "cara pemikiran" if I'm not mistaken hahha I completely forgot the main topic in this subject. Also, there are some group assignments which require you to do film review and book review. That's pretty much of it. Though it sounds easy, it is not.

ELC - During semester 1, you'll be having written article analysis and the forum discussion. As long as you follow the instructions, it won't put you in trouble.

GERMAN LANGUAGE -

I personally wanted to register for Mandarin because I felt more comfortable since I have learnt many Mandarin words and easy for my tongue to pronounce it. Unfortunately, many students have registered in that class and no more availability. So, I challenged myself to take German as my 4th language. I  thought German could be very entertaining until the grammar part. But, I studied and completed all the assignments. So, I can understand some of the German words.

Sooo that's it! I hope after you read this post, you won't be afraid or feel like not confident to further law degree. You should instead be more excited to gain new knowledge. My lecturer said "You choose to read law, then it should not be any problem to read everything". Yes, I do agree with him. We can't deny ODL did give us a huge impact on our studies. But, our end goal is not to be perfect because we can never be perfect, our goal is to always give our best through out our journey until one day when we look back the old days, we won't regret but be grateful for our wise decision. I know we are struggling and yes I do struggle too. All I hope is that we are able to reach our target. No matter what you do, I believe you have decided the best for yourself. If you are being offered to study law, you should be happy and grateful because God chooses you to read law. Why? Because He knows the best for you and this indicates that you are going to do your best in law school too!

So, did I survive? Alhamdulillah, I survived semester 1 and able to obtain good CGPA. I am very grateful for what I have, hence I'd like to share with all of you. InsyaAllah, if I do have much time to write how I score my final test 1, I will update soon. Last but not least, don't give up because I believe in you!

If you do have any question to ask, feel free to drop your questions at the comment section below!