KUALA LUMPUR: The Bar Council views seriously the issue of lawyers committing dishonest acts although the number is small compared with the total number of lawyers in the country.

Its chairman, Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari, said with 12,000 lawyers in the country, the proportion of lawyers found to have committed dishonest acts is still small.

"Despite the small proportion, such cases are always taken very seriously by the Bar Council and our target is zero complaints," he said in a statement on Tuesday.

Khutubul Zaman was commenting on recent news reports pertaining to breach of trust and dishonest claims committed by unscrupulous lawyers.

He said it must be clarified whether the claims referred to are in fact adjudicated claims or whether they are pending.

Khutubul Zaman said it must not be overlooked that claims against lawyers under the professional indemnity scheme are wide-ranging and most of them do not relate to dishonesty.

"The professional indemnity scheme, established by the Bar Council, is a compulsory insurance aimed at protecting clients of lawyers in numerous ways and not limited to cases involving dishonesty," he said.

He said errant practitioners exist in every profession and in the case of the legal profession, an independently-appointed Disciplinary Board adjudicates on all complaints against lawyers.

Khutubul Zaman said as at the end of August this year, the board had disposed of 81.37% of complaints registered with the board over the past 12 years.