REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE TO DEVELOP THE SINGAPORE LEGAL SECTOR _________________________________________ FINAL REPORT SEPTEMBER 2007 Report of the Committee to Develop the Singapore Legal Sector Table of Contents 1 BACKGROUND....................................................................................................... 1 2 LEGAL EDUCATION ............................................................................................. 2 (A) Legal Academia............................................................................................ 3 (I) Changing Legal Education Landscape......................................... 3 (II) Synergy between Academia and Industry .................................. 5 (III) Recommendations........................................................................... 5 (B) ‘A’ Level Law................................................................................................ 7 (I) Potential Benefits of Introducing ‘A’ Level Law......................... 8 (II) Costs of Implementing ‘A’ Level Law.......................................... 8 (III) Recommendation............................................................................. 9 (C) Restructuring the Present Legal Education System.............................. 9 (I) Admission Criteria for Law Schools............................................. 9 (II) Structure of the LLB Course..........................................................10 (III) Review of Content..........................................................................12 (IV) Recommendations..........................................................................13 (D) Admission to the Legal Profession .........................................................16 (I) Practical Law Course .....................................................................16 (II) Diploma in Singapore Law ...........................................................17 (III) Pupillage..........................................................................................17 (IV) Recommendations..........................................................................18 (E) Continuing Legal Education ....................................................................21 (I) Compulsory CLE............................................................................21 (II) Recommendations..........................................................................22 (F) Promotion of Singapore as a Legal Education Hub.............................23 (I) Initiatives Pioneered by the NUS Law Faculty ..........................23 (II) Recommendations..........................................................................24 3 THE LEGAL PROFESSION ..................................................................................26 (A) The Criminal/Civil Litigation Bar...........................................................26 (I) The Present Situation .....................................................................26 (II) Recommendations..........................................................................27 (B) Access to Justice..........................................................................................30 (I) The Role of the Profession in Ensuring Access to Justice .........30 (II) Contingency Fee Arrangements...................................................30 (III) Class Actions...................................................................................31 (IV) Recommendations..........................................................................32 (C) Specialist Accreditation.............................................................................35 (I) Increasing Specialisation ...............................................................35 (II) Recommendation............................................................................36 (D) Sufficiency Concerns of the Legal Profession ......................................36 (I) A Decline in the Number of Practising Lawyers .......................36 (II) Recommendations of the Third Committee on the Supply of Lawyers.........................................................................................................44 (III) Recommendations..........................................................................44 4 MAINTAINING AND ENFORCING ETHICAL STANDARDS IN THE PROFESSION FAIRLY AND PROMPTLY .....................................................................47 (A) Delays in the Disciplinary Process .........................................................47 (I) Current Problems with the Disciplinary Process.......................47 (II) Stakeholders’ Views.......................................................................48 (III) Recommendations..........................................................................49 (B) Initiating the Disciplinary Process..........................................................51 (I) Concerns about Veracity of Complaints .....................................51 (II) Recommendations..........................................................................51 (C) Managing the Disciplinary Process ........................................................52 (I) Current Difficulties ........................................................................52 (II) Recommendations..........................................................................54 5 ARBITRATION AND MEDIATION ..................................................................59 (A) The Singapore Mediation Centre and the Singapore International Arbitration Centre ...................................................................................................59 Page ii (I) The Growing Importance of Arbitration and Mediation..........59 (II) Recommendations..........................................................................63 6 PROMOTING SINGAPORE AS A KEY LEGAL SERVICES HUB...............67 (A) Making Singapore a More Attractive Base for Foreign Law Firms ..70 (I) The Current Incentives and Potential Refinements...................71 (II) Recommendations..........................................................................73 (B) Helping Singapore Law Firms to Expand into the Region.................73 (I) Pushing Singapore Law Firms Overseas ....................................73 (II) Recommendations..........................................................................75 (C) Promoting Singapore as a Legal Destination to Foreign Lawyers ....78 (I) Increasing Visibility .......................................................................78 (II) Recommendations..........................................................................78 7 LIBERALISATION OF THE PROFESSION ......................................................81 (A) Establishing a Regional Legal Centre.....................................................81 (B) The Current Practice of Law in Singapore.............................................83 (C) Steps to Becoming a Regional Legal Centre..........................................86 (I) Free Markets and Open Policies...................................................87 (II) Opening Singapore’s Legal Market .............................................89 (III) Recommendations..........................................................................92 8 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................98 9 ANNEX A - List of Working Group Members................................. 99 10 ANNEX B - List of Parties Consulted.............................................. 103 11 ANNEX C - Table of Differences Between Current JLV and Proposed Enhanced JLV ........................................................................................... 107 12 ANNEX D - Glossary of Terms ......................................................... 113 Page iii Report of the Committee to Develop the Singapore Legal Sector 1 BACKGROUND 1.1 On 17 August 2006, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Law appointed Justice V K Rajah, Judge of Appeal, Supreme Court of Singapore, to chair a committee (“the Committee”) to undertake a comprehensive review of the entire legal services sector, particularly in relation to exportable legal services, to ensure that Singapore remains at the cutting edge as an international provider of legal services both in the short-term as well as in the long-run. 1.2 In addition to Justice Rajah, who served as chairperson, the Committee comprised the following members:1 (a) Mr Chan Seng Onn, Solicitor-General, the Attorney-General’s Chambers;2 (b) Mr Sundaresh Menon, Judicial Commissioner, Supreme Court of Singapore;3 (c) Mrs Koh Juat Jong, Registrar, Supreme Court of Singapore; (d) Mr Michael Hwang, Senior Counsel, Sole Proprietor, Michael Hwang; (e) Mr Alvin Yeo, Senior Counsel, Managing Partner, Wong Partnership and Joint Managing Director, Clifford Chance Wong; (f) Mr Cavinder Bull, Director, Drew & Napier LLC; (g) Mr Lee Eng Beng, Partner, Rajah & Tann; (h) Mr Kwek Mean Luck, Senior Assistant Registrar, Supreme Court of Singapore.4 1 The Secretariat to the Committee comprised: (a) Mr David Lee Yeow Wee, Assistant Registrar, Supreme Court; (b) Ms Tammy Low Wan Jun, Assistant Registrar, Supreme Court; (c) Mr Paul Tan Beng Hwee, Justices’ Law Clerk, Supreme Court (until 31 May 2007); and (d) Mr Goh Yihan, Justices’ Law Clerk, Supreme Court. 2 Appointed Judge, Supreme Court of Singapore, on 3 July 2007. Mr Soh Tze Bian, Senior State Counsel, Attorney-General’s Chambers, was alternate