An application for a practising certificate in respect of a practice year shall not be submitted to the Registrar earlier than the month preceding the commencement of the practice year. The 'practice year' means the period from 1 April in a calendar year to 31 March in the ensuing calendar year. For example, for the practice year 2011/2012, you may e-file your application for a practising certificate on or after 1 March 2011. An application for a practising certificate is e-filed via the Supreme Court’s PC E-Filing System.

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The issuing authority is the Registrar of the Supreme Court. The practising certificate is electronically issued in your personal name as stated in your NRIC and dated on the date of issue.

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Yes. Section 26(1) Legal Profession Act sets out the circumstances which disqualify a solicitor from applying for a practising certificate, and these include:

• if you are an undischarged bankrupt;

• if you have entered into a composition with your creditors or a deed of arrangement for the benefit of your creditors;

• if you have one or more outstanding judgments against you amounting in the aggregate to $100,000 or more which you have been unable to satisfy within 6 months from the date of the earliest judgment.

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The Society has to give its prior approval before a solicitor may proceed to e-file his application for a practising certificate via the Supreme Court’s PC E-Filing System. To apply for the Society’s prior approval, please submit to the Society:

• the 'Application for Approval to E-File Practising Certificate' for solicitors practising in Singapore law practices, locum solicitors or legal officers employed by a statutory body; or

• the 'Application for Approval to E-File Practising Certificate (Section 130 N Legal Profession Act)' for solicitors registered under section 130N Legal Profession Act.

The application forms can be downloaded from the Society’s website at www.lawsociety.org.sg under 'Running Your Practice > Forms.'

The law practice at which you practise or the statutory board at which you are employed as a legal officer will submit the 'Application for Approval to E-file Practising Certificate' form, your accountant's report (if applicable) together with cheque payments (unless payment is by GIRO) to the Law Society. The Law Society will issue an acknowledgement, stating the indicative date when you may e-file your application with the Supreme Court.

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You must:

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In order to obtain accurate information on the pro bono commitment of members, the Law Society has included this section requesting for information on pro bono hours done by members. This information will enable the Law Society to form a more accurate picture of the extent of members’ pro bono contributions to the community when publicising the good work done by members. This can be an important tool in improving the image of our profession and earning us goodwill both with the public as well as with the Government.

It is not mandatory. The section on pro bono contributions and initiatives is for information/statistical purposes and members are requested to provide the information on an as-best-they-can basis. No sanctions or adverse consequences will follow non-reporting or zero pro bono hours.

The information does not form part of the requirements for an application for a practising certificate and as such, is not covered by the Declaration at the end of the ‘Application For Approval To E-File Practising Certificate’ form.

The following situations would count as pro bono contributions:

The following situations would not count as pro bono contributions:

Someone whom the solicitor reasonably believes is not able to pay for legal services.

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The Law Society will check your 'Application for Approval to e-file Practising Certificate' form and confirm the following:

Solicitors registered under section 130N of the Legal Profession Act are required to submit a copy of their certificate of registration (issued by the Attorney-General‘s Chambers) together with the 'Application for Approval to E-File Practising Certificate (Section 130 N Legal Profession Act)'.

When the application and accountant's report are in order, you e-file your application on the date indicated. If there are errors in your application and/or accountant's report, you will be notified to correct the errors.

On the date given to you to e-file your application, you personally must access the Supreme Court Practising Certificate module to e-file your application (please see 'The E-filing Process' below) and make the required statutory declaration online.

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Where there are no errors in the 'Application for Approval to E-File Practising Certificate' form or the Accountant's Report, you will usually be able to e-file your application electronically 5–7 working days after your application is received by the Law Society.

Should there be errors in your application, the Law Society will notify you to rectify the errors. The processing time will re-commence from the date of your submission of the rectified application.

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The Council of the Law Society has issued Guidance Note 1 of 2010 which took effect on 1 February 2010. The Guidance Note sets out the procedure to be followed in an application for a practising certificate when section 25A of the Legal Profession Act applies. Members who intend to apply for a practising certificate for the practice year 2010/2011 and to whom section 25A of the Legal Profession Act applies, are to submit to the Society the 'Notice of Intention to Apply for a Practising Certificate' by no later than 15 February 2011. For more information, please contact the Compliance department at kenneth@lawsoc.org.sg.

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Some of the common errors are:

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Since 1 November 2006, it has been mandatory for all practising certificate applications, including locum practising certificate applications, to be filed electronically with the Supreme Court.

Please refer to the Supreme Court Practice Direction 4 of 2008 and the Legal Profession (Practising Certificate) Rules.

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Go to the Supreme Court website at www.supremecourt.gov.sg > 'Electronic Filing System' > 'Practising Certificate e-filing Service'.

You need to login in using your admission number, NRIC number and date of birth. If you have forgotten your admission number, you can look it up either from the Law Society Directory (if you are a current member) or contact the Law Society via e-mail at compliance@lawsoc.org.sg.

Please note that you have to personally declare that the information in your online PC application is true, correct and complete. Therefore, no other person can make that declaration on your behalf.

When you e-file your application, you will receive via the e-mail address provided in your online application, notification of receipt.

If you wish to have a hard copy of your practising certificate in bond paper, please contact the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court imposes charges for the issuance of hard copy practising certificates.

For more information on the Supreme Court e-filing procedures, please visit the Supreme Court website which provides step-by-step instructions on what you need to do.

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If you have problems accessing the Supreme Court e-filing system or encounter problems while e-filing, please e-mail the Supreme Court at Supcourt_PCEF_Inq@supcourt.gov.sg.

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The Law Society and the Supreme Court offer complimentary use of their IT facilities for lawyers to e-file their practising certificates.

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You must pay an annual membership subscription to the Law Society, which is for the period from 1 April to 31 March of the following year.

The annual subscription will be as follows:

The amount of subscription fee payable is determined based on the number of years of standing calculated from the date of your admission.

*The dates are in reference to the practice year 2011/2012

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You may make payment to the Law Society by:

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Click here to view the list of law practices which have a GIRO facility with the Law Society.

If you wish to apply for a GIRO facility, please submit to the Society the GIRO application form which is available on the Society’s website under 'Running Your Practice > Forms > Making Payments to the Society'. Please note that the approval process is approximately 4 weeks.

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You need to pay an application fee of $85.00 when filing your practising certificate application at the Supreme Court.

If you have an InterBank GIRO account with the Supreme Court, you may pay by:

Any queries on BillCollect may be directed to the PC Counter at supcourt_pcef_inq@supcourt.gov.sg.

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The law practice that you are/will be practising in will usually make the application for insurance cover and payment of the insurance premium. The law practice should send the application on your behalf to the Law Society's brokers:

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When the Law Society processes your application for approval to e-file practising certificate, we will check with the Law Society's insurance brokers to ascertain if your professional indemnity cover has taken effect.

If it has taken effect, your application will be 'activated' by the Law Society in the Supreme Court PC e-filing system. Only when this is done will you be able to proceed to e-file your application for a practising certificate with the Supreme Court.

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A solicitor employed by any statutory body or authority and who is issued with a certificate by the Attorney General under section 26(3) of the Legal Profession Act is exempted from obtaining the mandatory insurance cover.

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The professional indemnity cover is usually paid for by your law practice. You may apply for a pro-rated refund of your cover to the law practice. The procedure for applying for a refund is set out in the section on 'Ceasing a Practice'.

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View list of practitioners who voted in 2002  |  2003  |  2004  |  2005  |  2006  |  2007  |  2010 [Junior Category | Middle Category]

View list of practitioners who did not vote in 2002  |  2003  |  2004  |  2005  |  2006  |  2007  |  2010 [Junior Category | Middle Category]

Note: Section 50(2) of the Legal Profession Act provides:

'Every advocate and solicitor who is required to vote for the election of the members of the Council in accordance with subsection (1) and who fails to do so shall not be entitled to apply for a practising certificate unless he -

(a) satisfies the Registrar that he was not in Singapore at the time of the election or had a good and sufficient reason for not voting at the last election to the Council; or

(b) pays a penalty of $500 which shall be credited to the Compensation Fund established under section 75.'

For the year 2007, election of the members of the Council was held for the Middle Category only.

For the years 2008 and 2009, members in all categories were not required to vote in the annual election of Council.

For the year 2010, election of the members of the Council was held for the Junior and Middle Categories.

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Lawyers practising in or employed by foreign law practices cannot apply for a practising certificate. However, they and other foreign lawyers who were not admitted to the Roll of Advocates and Solicitors of the Supreme Court, are required to register with the Legal Profession (International Services) Secretariat of the Attorney-General's Chambers.

Foreign lawyers registered with the Attorney-General's Chambers to practise Singapore law under section 130I or 130J or granted approval referred to in section 130L of the Legal Profession Act are required to pay the Law Society an annual subscription fee of $1,123.50 (including GST).

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No.

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Section 25(5) of the Legal Profession Act provides that every practising certificate issued in the month of April shall be deemed to have been in force from the first day of that month. For example, a practising certificate issued on and dated 9 April 2011 shall be deemed to have been in force from 1 April 2011.

A practising certificate issued in the month of March shall be dated 1 April. For example, if your practising certificate is issued on 18 March 2011 for the practice year 2011/2012, it will be dated 1 April 2011.

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If you do not have a practising certificate, you may not practise as an advocate and solicitor or do any act as an advocate and solicitor.

If your practising certificate was issued after 30 April 2011, for example 6 May 2011, it would have been in force from 6 May 2011. However, if you had practised from 1 April 2011, you would have practised without a practising certificate for the period from 1 April - 5 May 2011. Practising without a practising certificate is an offence and disciplinary proceedings may also be taken against the solicitor concerned. A solicitor without a practising certificate is also prohibited from operating any bank account of a law practice and if he is a commissioner for oaths or a notary public, he cannot do any act as a commissioner or notary.

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A sole proprietor or partner (of a law firm or limited liability law partnership) or director (of a law corporation) is required to submit an accountant’s report. This requirement applies to a solicitor held out to the public as a partner or director and would include a salaried partner, associate partner, associate director or senior associate director. A solicitor (not a sole proprietor, partner or director) who held or received client money will be required to submit an accountant’s report. The accountant’s report must be in the form set out in the Schedule to the Legal Profession (Accountant’s Report) Rules.

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A sole proprietor, partner or director may apply to the Society for an exemption from having to produce an accountant’s report if the law practice did not hold or receive any client money. The application for exemption is by way of a statutory declaration submitted to the Director, Compliance. The statutory declaration can be submitted in January or February so as to avoid the rush in the months of March/April each year.

The statutory declaration should contain the following information:

• State that you are applying for an exemption from having to produce an accountant’s report;

• State the period for which the exemption is requested for;

• Confirm that you did not hold or receive any client money during this period;

• Elaborate why you did not hold/receive any client money - you may give a brief description of the nature of your practice;

• Confirm if you had opened any client account. If you had opened a client account but did not hold/receive any client money - please attach the bank statements to the statutory declaration.

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Click here for a list of accountants that Council has disqualified from preparing Accountant's Reports.

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You should check the following under the heading of the report described below:

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There are 2 paragraphs to the body of the Accountant's Report.

First Paragraph

Your accountant is not required to cite the editions of the Legal Profession Act or the Accountant's Report Rules or the Solicitors' Accounts Rules. If however, your accountant does cite the editions in the first paragraph of the report, then check that the citations are correct. The current editions are:

Legal Profession Act (2009, Revised Edition);
Legal Profession (Accountant’s Report) Rules (2010, Revised Edition);
Legal Profession (Solicitors’ Accounts) Rules ( 1999, Revised Edition).



Second Paragraph

Check that your accountant has specified at least 2 dates when your accountant examined the balances in the bank statements with the client's ledger balances. The dates chosen must be dates within the accounting period when you were a proprietor, partner or director of the law practice.

You were a proprietor of a sole proprietorship from 1 January 2010 to 12 October 2010 and then ceased your sole practice and became a partner of another law practice on 15 October 2010.

The sole practice Accountant's Report would state the accounting period from 1 January 2010 to 12 October 2010 (which is the last date of your sole practice). Your partnership Accountant's Report must state the accounting period from 15 October 2010 to 31 December 2010.

The 2 dates stated in paragraph 2 of the sole practice report would be any 2 dates between 1 January 2010 to 12 October 2010 while the 2 dates stated in paragraph 2 of your partnership Account's Report would be any 2 dates during the period from 15 October 2010 to 31 December 2010.

Third Paragraph

A third paragraph in an Accountant's Report is only necessary if you have either ceased to practise in a law practice or you have retired from practice.

If you have ceased practice, your Accountant's Report must be specified as your 'Final Accountant's Report' for that law practice. Check that the date specified as the date you ceased to hold client's money when you left that law practice is the last date when you were a proprietor, partner or director of the law practice.

For example if you ceased your sole practice on 12 October 2010, you would cease to hold client's money on 12 October 2010. Your accounting period must be from 1 January 2010 to 12 October 2010 and the date in the third paragraph must be 12 October 2010.

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If you have retired from practice, you cannot continue to hold client money as only a solicitor with a practising certificate can hold or receive client money. You must either dispose of all your client money before retirement or appoint a solicitor to act as your legal manager to dispose of your client money if you cannot do it before retirement. For further information contact the Conduct Department.

If you cease practice in a particular law practice and go on to practise in another law practice, you can continue to hold client money as you are still in practice.

This is often the case when a solicitor ceases to practise as a sole proprietor and joins another law practice and is unable to dispose of all client money on the date of the cessation of the sole practice. In this scenario, the third paragraph of your Accountant's Report must be as described below:

The accounting period in the heading of your report would be for a period beyond the cessation of the practice.

If you ceased your sole practice on 12 October 2010 but disposed of all client money only on 26 February 2011, the accounting period for the report for 2010 for your sole practice would be from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2010. It would state that having ceased to practise under the style of .............. on 12 October 2010, you continued to hold client's money. A final accountant’s report for the period from 1 January 2011 to 26 February 2011 will have to submitted separately to the Law Society.

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Check that the Accountant's Report set out the particulars of your accountant as follows:

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Please send your queries by e-mail to the Compliance Department of the Law Society at compliance@lawsoc.org.sg or contact Kenneth Goh at 6530 0231 or Glynnis Toh at 6530 0217.