|
NEWS |
2009 – A Year in Action
The Law Society has been kept very busy in 2009 with various activities, projects and initiatives. Here is a quick recap of some of the key initiatives and activities undertaken by the Law Society in 2009.
Facilitating access to justice has always been a major focus of the Law Society.
The Law Society Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, which provides legal representation to needy persons facing non-capital criminal charges, continues to grow from strength to strength. It remains, since its establishment in 1985, the main body in Singapore providing criminal legal aid to needy persons facing non-capital criminal charges. As of 31 August 2009, the Law Society received 13,343 applications for assistance under its Criminal Legal Aid Scheme.
Public demand also remains high for the Community Legal Clinic established by the Law Society in September 2007 to provide free basic legal advice and information to needy Singaporeans and permanent residents across Singapore.
On the average, the Community Legal Clinic sees about 240-250 cases per month. As of 31 August 2009, 6,511 persons have applied to seek legal advice at the Community Legal Clinic. Volunteer lawyers at the Community Legal Clinic range from first year corporate lawyers to Senior Counsel. As of 31 August 2009, 588 volunteer lawyers participated in the Clinic sessions.
In a recent survey conducted by the Pro Bono Services Office, the majority of the applicants who attended the Community Legal Clinic expressed a high level of satisfaction with the staff friendliness, efficiency of the Clinic, and helpfulness of the advice. Detailed results of the survey are available on the Law Society website at www.lawsociety.org.sg.
To provide mentorship for sole proprietors and small law practices on practice management issues, a mentoring program for small law practices was launched in December 2008. Under this program, proprietors and partners of participating small law practices are each assigned an experienced senior lawyer who meets with them a few times a year to discuss practice management issues or problems confronting small law practices.
The meetings are informal and intended to provide guidance and advice to lawyers in small law practices who may otherwise not have access to the wise counsel of senior practitioners on practice management issues. In the pilot phase of this program, a number of past Presidents of the Law Society have volunteered as mentors and response from practitioners has been encouraging.
Over the past year, the Law Society has been involved in various public and other consultations on legislative and practice changes, including the Legal Profession Act, Criminal Procedure Code, Income Tax (Amendment) Bill and Medical Registration Act. The Law Society’s feedback in public consultations is available on the Law Society website. The Law Society also continues to be actively engaged in dialogues and discussions with the Subordinate and Supreme Courts and various agencies such as the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, Central Provident Fund Board and Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, to address practice concerns.
The representative and community work of the Law Society would not have been possible without the active participation and contribution of our members. To acknowledge our members’ contributions and support, three new awards were inaugurated this year:
1. Volunteer of the Year;
2. Contributor of the Year; and
3. Pro Bono Ambassador of the Year.
The Volunteer of the Year award is an annual award given to a law practice that has made a significant non-monetary contribution to the Law Society’s work and activities. The Contributor of the Year award is an annual award given to the law practice that has made a significant monetary contribution to the Law Society by way of sponsorship or donation. The Pro Bono Ambassador of the Year award is an annual award given to an individual who has an established track record of providing pro bono services for a period of five or more years.
The winners of these awards, formally announced at the 2009 Annual Dinner and Dance on 12 September 2009, were featured in the October 2009 issue of the Singapore Law Gazette.
We continue to work hard to improve our revamped Law Society website, launched in 2008. I am pleased to inform that for the period from October 2008 to June 2009, the Law Society website was ranked third, based on market share of visits among all Singapore websites in the Hitwise “Business and Finance - Professional Associations industry”.
In July 2009, we launched a new section “Legal Ethics” on the Law Society website. The Legal Ethics section provides a one-stop facility for members to keep up-to-date with legal ethical issues. The section consolidates legal ethics information, previously available in our members’ only “Resource Library” section, with new contents and improved streamlined search functions. Information available in this section includes articles published in the Singapore Law Gazette, opinions of the Ethics Committee published in the Singapore Law Gazette; and links to Council’s Practice Directions and Guidance Notes.
We have also made further improvements to the “Running Your Practice” section on the Law Society website. The revamped section, re-launched in August 2009, now has better categorisation of information for easier navigation.
The Law Society hosted the 40th annual Malaysia-Singapore Bench & Bar Games on 30 April-2 May 2009. The Games drew 230 participants from Malaysia’s bench and bar and 250 Singapore participants.
The highlight of the Games was the closely fought golf competition, with Malaysia emerging as the winner of the golf competition. This led to a draw between Malaysia and Singapore in the final results of the Games.
In conjunction with the Games, the Law Society and the Bar Council of Malaysia also jointly organised a seminar on Islamic banking and finance on 30 April 2009, where practitioners from both jurisdictions shared their experiences.
The Law Society, in collaboration with the Law Association for Asia and the Pacific (“LAWASIA”), organised the Children & the Law Conference 2009 in Singapore on 21-23 May 2009.
The Chief Justice of Singapore gave the keynote address at the Conference, which brought together judges, experienced family practitioners, academics specialising in the area of child law, and other stakeholders and professionals who work with children. Apart from examining current issues of concern, the Conference also facilitated the exchange and sharing of information among judges and practitioners from different jurisdictions.
The Conference saw the first-ever Family Lawyer Forum, with family law experts providing insights into recent developments involving child law in various jurisdictions. A special highlight was the plenary session by Somaly Mam, who was widely recognised around the world for her work in battling child trafficking and child prostitution in Cambodia.
The Conference was well attended and attracted international delegates from around the world, including Australia, East Timor, India, Japan, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Thailand.
The Law Society Biennial Lecture was inaugurated in 2007 with the objective of providing a platform for distinguished international lawyers and legal jurists to speak on issues of relevance and interest to Singapore lawyers. Internationally renowned human rights lawyer, former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of Canada, Professor Irwin Cotler, was the speaker for the inaugural Lecture in 2007.
The speaker for the second Biennial Lecture held on 10 July 2009 was Lord Peter Henry Goldsmith, PC, QC, a leading barrister specialising principally in commercial, corporate and international litigation and appellate work. He served as Attorney-General from 2001-2007, acting as chief legal adviser to the British government and represented the British government in numerous cases in the United Kingdom and international courts.
At the lecture, Lord Goldsmith spoke on A “Life in the Law: Home and Away”, and shared his views on the practice of law, the challenges for lawyers and the role of the law in dealing with the problems of today, including terrorism and international unrest. The lecture was very well-received and attracted a large audience comprising many young lawyers and judges. Following his speech was a candid question-and-answer session, which drew questions from young lawyers on issues such as work-life balance and how a lawyer could contribute to the Law Society.
As part of the ongoing efforts of the Law Society to help increase public awareness of the law, the Law Society organises a major public law awareness program every two years.
This year, the Law Society held a two-day event, called “Law Reach” focusing on legal issues confronting workers at the Ang Mo Kio Hub on 24 and 25 October 2009.
The event comprised talks in the form of interactive sessions with panels of lawyers and industry experts; an exhibition on commonly encountered legal issues such as bankruptcy and family law; and free legal clinics for members of public to seek free legal advice on personal legal issues.
The event was very well-received, with over 60 lawyers volunteering their time and a turnout of more than 500 people at the clinics.
This has certainly been an eventful year for the Law Society and members. Much of the work carried out by the Council and the Secretariat is often invisible to members and difficult to explain or summarise in a neat sound-bite. Do keep in touch with the activities of the Law Society and latest developments by reading the members’ electronic newsletter or checking out the Law Society website at www.lawsociety.org.sg. If you have any views or comments to share with us, please e-mail us at communications@lawsoc.org.sg.
Chua Lik Teng
Chief Executive Officer
The Law Society of Singapore