Requirements for Admission

 1.         The Board of Legal Education (“Board”) is established under the Legal Profession Act (“the Act”). Its purposes include registering persons seeking admission as advocates and solicitors, providing for the training, education and examination of qualified persons intending to practise law in Singapore, and exercising supervision over qualified persons during their respective training periods.

2.         A qualified person* who seeks admission as an advocate and solicitor to practise law in Singapore must:
(a)        register his name with the Board BEFORE filing his application for admission [Rule 12(1) of the Legal Profession Rules

(b)        attend and satisfactorily complete the Postgraduate Practical Course in Law or Part B of the Singapore Bar Examinations [S12(1)(d) and (e) of the Act read with Rule 11(1) and (1A) of the Legal Profession Rules],

(c)        keep such dining terms as may be prescribed by the Board [S12(1)(f) of the Act], and

(d)        satisfactorily serve the practice training period applicable to him, and during that period, receive such supervised training as may be prescribed by the Board [S12(1)(c) of the Act].

 *The Ministry of Law’s website sets out the requirements of a qualified person. To check if you are a qualified person, please CLICK HERE.

 3.         Registration as a qualified person

 To register as a qualified person, please CLICK HERE to download the registration form and follow the instructions in the form.

 
4.         Postgraduate Practical Course in Law (“PLC”)

 The PLC conducted annually by the Board up to and including 2009.

5.         Part B of the Part B of the Singapore Bar Examinations and the Preparatory Course Leading Thereto Bar Examination

 Arising from changes announced in Parliament on 13 February 2009, qualified persons under the Legal Profession Act will have to pass Part B of a new Bar Examination and attend the preparatory course leading thereto in order to be called to the Bar.

The preparatory course (“Course”) leading to Part B of the Singapore Bar Examinations (“Examination”) is a full-time course and is compulsory.

The Course and Examination will be conducted by the Board of Legal Education (“Board”). In general, lectures will be held at the Supreme Court Auditorium and practice/drafting classes and tutorials will be held at the Subordinate Courts. Details of other venues will be given to accepted students when the Course commences.

The Course will run for a total of 5 months, commencing Wednesday 7 July 2010 and ending Saturday 4 December 2010. Registration will be conducted on 7 July 2010. Accepted students will receive a letter with registration information. There is only one intake per calendar year. There will be 18 teaching weeks, 2 revision weeks and 2 examination weeks.

The fees are reflected in the table below.

The course will be arranged as follows:-

(i)         Examinable Subjects

(a)         Civil Procedure;

(b)        Criminal Procedure;

(c)       Commercial Practice (which will include practical aspects of company law, insolvency and winding-up, admiralty, arbitration and credit and security);

(d)       Conveyancing Practice;

(e)       Professional Responsibility (which will include the Legal Profession (Solicitors’ Accounts) Rules and Non-Contentious Costs);

(f)       Family Law Practice; and

(g)      Wills, Probate and Administration.

The Board of Legal Education may in its discretion amend the syllabus for the course or any individual subject as it thinks fit according to the circumstance.

In addition to the examinable subjects, students will be exposed to other topics in the practice of law as well as practical skills that a young or newly-admitted lawyer is expected to have. More details will be provided in a Handbook distributed to students accepted for the Course.

The application form is available on the Board’s website at www.lawsociety.org.sg/ble. The deadlines for the following categories are as follows:

Any application received by the Board after the closing dates specified above will not be accepted.

The Handbook and Manuals will be made available to students about 2 weeks before the commencement of the Course. Students will be notified by a letter as to the date, time and venue of collection.

If you have any query relating to Part B of the Singapore Bar Examinations and the preparatory course leading thereto, you may email to blegale@singnet.com.sg. For queries relating to admission into the Singapore Bar, please refer to MinLaw's website at www.mlaw.gov.sg.

6.         Dining terms

 A qualified person is required to attend such dinners as may be specified by the Board. The dinners are usually scheduled during Part B and the details will be made available in due course.

7.         Practice Training Period

 7.1       A person may serve his practice training period by receiving supervised training in relation to the practice of Singapore law under a practice training contract with a Singapore law practice, or through working as a Legal Service Officer, or under the supervision of a qualifying relevant legal officer [S13(1) of the Act].

7.2       Generally, the duration of the practice training period is 6 months [S13(2) of the Act]. However, if a qualified person receives supervised training through working as a Legal Service Officer or through working under the supervision of a qualifying relevant legal officer, 6 months of such supervised training will only count as 1 month of his practice training period [S13(3) of the Act].

7.3       The requirements relating to practice training period are set out in Part II of the Legal Profession (Practice Training Period) Rules 2009 (“the PTP Rules”).

7.4       A person who became a qualified person on or after 9^th October 2009 may serve his practice training period only after he has passed Part B, and the practice training period must be completed within a continuous period of 8 months. [Rules 3(1) and 4(1)(a) of the PTP Rules] However, if a qualified person serves his practice training period or any part thereof through working as a Legal Service Officer or under the supervision of a qualifying relevant legal officer, he must complete his service of his practice training period within a continuous period of 48 months [Rule 4(2)(a) of the PTP Rules].

7.5.1 Rules 3(1) and 4(1) and (2) of the PTP Rules do not apply to a person who became a qualified person before 9th October 2009 [Rules 3(2)(a) and 4 (3) of the PTP Rules].

7.5.2 Rule 3(1) also does not apply to any person who becomes a qualified person under rule 6(c), 7(c), 8(1)(iii), (2)(iii) or 3(ii)(B), 9(1)(b)(ii), (2)(b)(ii) or 2A(b)(ii) or 9A(1)(c)(ii) of the Legal Profession (Qualified Persons) Rules AND has satisfied or been exempted from the 6 continuous months of relevant legal training or relevant legal practice or work requirement before passing Part A of the Singapore Bar Examinations [Rule 3(2)(b) of the PTP Rules].

7.5.3 Rule 3(1) does not apply to any practice training period or part thereof served through working as a Legal Service Officer or under the supervision of a qualifying relevant legal officer [Rule 3(2)(c) of the PTP Rules].

7.6       A qualified person who commenced pupillage before 9^th October 2009 will be deemed to have received during the period of pupillage served, supervised training in relation to the practice of Singapore law under a practice training contract [S14(1) of the Act]. For qualified persons who commenced serving pupillage with a legal officer before 9^th October 2009, please refer to S14(2) of the Act.

7.7       The Minister has the discretion to grant a qualified person exemptions from the requirements under Rules 3(1) and 4(1) or (2) [Rules 3(3) and 4(4) of the PTP Rules].

7.8       A qualified person who serves his practice training period under a practice training contract is called a practice trainee [Rule 2 of the PTP Rules]. The solicitor who is responsible for the supervision of the practice trainee under a practice training contract is called a supervising solicitor [Rule 2 of the PTP Rules].

 7.9       A supervising solicitor must be in active practice in a Singapore law practice and must have in force a practising certificate for at least 5 of the 7 years immediately before the commencement of his supervision of the practice trainee [Rule 5(1) of the PTP Rules].

 7.10     A supervising solicitor may supervise up to 2 practice trainees at any one time [Rule 5(2) of the PTP Rules].

8.         Practice Training Contracts

8.1       A practice training contract is a formal training arrangement between a qualified person and a Singapore law practice, pursuant to which the qualified person receives, and the Singapore law practice provides, supervised training in relation to the practice of Singapore law [S2 of the Act].

8.2       There is no prescribed form of practice training contract. Singapore law practices are required to publish details of the supervised training that they intend to provide under a practice training contract on their websites (if any) or on such other Internet websites as may be specified by the Board [Rule 9 of the PTP Rules].

8.3       The requirements relating to practice training contracts are set out in Part III of the PTP Rules.

8.4       A supervising solicitor must ensure that the practice trainee whom he supervises:

(a)        receives adequate training in matters specified by the Board in guidelines^# issued under the PTP Rules, including matters relating to professional responsibility, etiquette and conduct,

(b)        is exposed to 2 or more of the following areas of practice:

(i)         civil litigation;

(ii)        criminal litigation;

(iii)       corporate practice;

(iv)       conveyancing practice; and

(c)        attends such courses that may be specified by the Board.

[Rule 6 of the PTP Rules]

8.5       A Singapore law practice which provides a practice trainee with supervised training under a practice training contract must register with the Board every practice training contract and the particulars of the practice trainee and his supervising solicitor [Rule 8(1) of the PTP Rules].

8.6       When registering a practice training contract with the Board, a Singapore law practice must declare to the Board the number of solicitors in the Singapore law practice who are qualified to be supervising solicitors on the date of commencement of the supervised training under the practice training contract [Rule 8(2) of the PTP Rules].

8.7       The Singapore law practice must ensure that the practice trainee is supervised by a supervising solicitor who is in active practice in the Singapore law practice, that the practice trainee is based in Singapore and that the supervising solicitor performs his responsibilities [Rule 7(1) of the PTP Rules].

8.8       If a Singapore law practice does not have the expertise or resources to provide the practice trainee with exposure to an area of practice referred to in the Rules, the Singapore law practice may arrange for the practice trainee to receive that exposure in another Singapore law practice [Rule 7(2) of the PTP Rules]. During the period of exposure in another Singapore law practice, the practice trainee is deemed to be supervised by his supervising solicitor [Rule 7(3) of the PTP Rules].

^# The guidelines to be issued by the Board pursuant to the PTP Rules are still being worked out and will be available shortly.