Rote learning, Socrates method or Problem based learning?

Dear Sara,

Your question: "Would you mind if I asked whether it is really NOT necessary to refer to textbooks for the CLP as claimed by the lecturers at bricks? Making it sufficient to pass the exams solely on memorising, regurgitating, and somehow writing it all down in 45mins?"

My short answer:
There are three ways to tackle CLP - rote learning, Socrates method or Problem Base Learning. You may apply either way depending on your situation. If you are a graduate from foreign university, you may face a bit of problem as you have to familiarize yourself with the Malaysian law. For me, it was pretty straightforward as I have invested 4 years of my time in Malaysian law prior to CLP exam.

I must confess that although I was part of the statistics in the success story published by Bricks, I did not follow the advice of Bricks. In my opinion, the Bricks method is sufficient for you to face the exam of yesterday but not today. In fact, I only attended the Final Intensive Review for 10 weeks (March to June). I did not attend the lectures or tutorials.

One of the main challenges of CLP exam is the questions are pretty current. You have to read up on the recent judicial pronouncements.

Takes for instance, you will not able to answer the question on double presumption on drug trafficking if you have not read Muhamand Hassan and Tan Tek Eek. Bricks would not prepare you for that. In the Evidence paper for July 2005, double presumption constitutes one question. I am very sure that Bricks has included double presumption in its lecture notes now. This was not done back in 2005.

Another example is the Bankruptcy question in July 2005. The candidates are expected to know the case of Bungsar Hill (Federal Court, year 2005). Again, this was not cover in the lecture notes. I attempted that question. I was rewarded with an A for the Professional Practice.
Anyway, Bricks is right on the General Paper. The candidates have to sit down and attempt at least 10 statements of claim. In General Paper, you have to make sure that you are able to finish the papers within the stipulated time. Practice made perfect.

I was using the reverse engineering approach. Here is the outline of my study method for CLP.
It was kind of problem-based learning method.

1. First round: Speed reading. One subject per week.
2. Check out the past year questions. Group the past year questions into multiple topics.
3. Base on the past year questions, read up the cases and attempt the questions at the same time.
4. Attend the Final Intensive Review by Bricks.

You may find some the following books useful:
1. Evidence by Augustine Paul.
2. The CLP books series by MLJ.
3. Criminal Procedure by Mimi Kamariah. You may read this together with Bricks notes.
4. Criminal Prosecution for High Court by MLJ.