COUNCIL BULLETIN

Mr Palakrishnan assumed office as the President of the Law Society on 1 January 2000. The Vice-Presidents of the Council are Mrs Arfat Selvam and Mr Goh Phai Cheng SC. Ms Christina Goh Siok Leng will be the Treasurer of the Council. The Executive Committee for the year 2000 will comprise Mr Palakrishnan, Mrs Arfat Selvam, Mr Goh Phai Cheng SC, Ms Christina Goh Siok Leng, Mr Philip Jeyaretnam, Mr N Sreenivasan and Mr George Lim (Immediate Past President).

The Law Society and the Singapore Academy of Law held a seminar for members on the Electronic Filing System Phase 1.2 on Saturday 11 December 1999. The Law Society has also prepared and sent a booklet entitled ‘Electronic Filing System Phase 1.2 Introduction Guide Book’ to all members to provide them with answers to some commonly asked questions concerning the Electronic Filing System and the Non-Judiciary Commissioners for Oaths module and a list of vendors and their products and services.

Mr William Phua, together with the EFS Committee, will also shortlist suitable vendors or integrators who are able to provide follow up advice to members and answer their queries.

The Amendment Bill, relating to Law Corporations and Joint Ventures and Formal Alliances with foreign lawyers, was now before Parliament and had included some suggestions from the Law Society. The Law Society will hold a dialogue session with its members after the Act is passed by Parliament.

The Law Awareness Committee had discussed and were in principle supportive of the idea of setting up a website for the benefit of laypersons. Mr Naresh Mahtani, CEO, will request Mr Foo Chee Hock to discuss the matter together with Ms Roslina Baba, Ms Malathi Das, Mr Ahmad Nizam Abbas and Ms Chu Sooi Yoon.

Professional Practice Committee — Proposal to Adopt Standards for Law Firms

The Professional Practice Committee presented a proposal to the Council to adopt standards for law firms based on specifications such as ISO, Lexcel, OPS and TQM.

The Council discussed the proposal and concluded that although such standards may not guarantee quality and ISO standards may not be entirely suitable for the qualitative nature of services provided by law firms, they help to ensure consistency in services. However, the Professional Practice Committee was asked to continue to look into the issue and to revert to the Council thereafter.

The Council agreed with the views of the Conveyancing Practice Committee that there were no objections to a bank/legal officer signing the Attestation Certificate in the format that the CPF Board had suggested.

Mr George Lim presented commemorative plaques to Mr Loo Ngan Chor of M/s Loo Ngan Chor & Co and Mr Douglas Leong of M/s Tan Peng Chin & Partners, two outgoing Council members, to thank them for their years of service in the Council.

Following the Electronic Filing System (EFS) Seminar held on 11 December 1999 and the meeting between the Law Society and Singapore Network Services (SNS) on 17 December 1999, the following issues were discussed:

Many practitioners have yet to be trained in the EFS and SCQ.
Specifications have only recently been modified.
The imposition of filing fees for bundles of documents, authorities and written submissions.
The suggestion given at the seminar was that a common database be created at the courts for the referral of legal authorities.
The need to extend the working hours at the SNS Bureau.
The late availability of the paper filing templates for the Service Bureau.
Clarification as to when a document would be deemed as served when filed through the Service Bureau.
The sharing of EFS equipment by law firms.

The Council decided that the Law Society would write to the Honourable Chief Justice on the above concerns and request for the implementation date of the EFS to be postponed.

The Council also decided to send a letter to members to inform them of the representations the Law Society had made to the Honourable Chief Justice.

Subsequently, pursuant to representations by the Law Society, implementation of the EFS has been postponed from 1 January 2000 to 1 March 2000.

The Council discussed the appointment of the chairpersons and the Council representatives and junior lawyers for the Law Society’s committees for the year 2000.

Following a request by the Registry of Companies and Businesses, the Council has decided to issue a circular on group law practices after the Group Law Practice ad-hoc Committee finalises the said circular.

Variation to the Prescribed Form in the Housing Developers Rules and the Sale of Commercial Properties Rules

The Council accepted the recommendation of the Conveyancing Practice Committee as regards its response to the Urban Renewal Authority.

Mr Naresh Mahtani, Chief Executive Officer and Mr Dominic Nagulendran, Director of Practice Standards, will organise a meeting between representatives from both committees and the registrar, subordinate courts.

Mr George Lim thanked Ms Malathi Das, the Chairperson of the Young Lawyers’ Committee, for organising the Young Lawyers’ Carribbean Party on 10 December 1999. He suggested that next year’s event be held in May/June after the mass call.

The Bar Council of Malaysia will host the next friendly games between Singapore and Malaysia. The games will be held in Malaysia.

The Law Society had made representations a year ago to the Rules Committee to increase fixed costs. The Society’s submissions have been adopted and reflected in the recent amendments to the Rules of Court.