Admission to Singapore: Part I

[1 February 2010: Please note that this article is now out of date due to the 2009 changes to the Singapore system. These changes have resulted in the abolishment of the DipSing, something which I covered in greater detail here. Will set out an update on the admission procedures in the near future.]

Introduction

Young lawyers may wish to practice law outside of Malaysia, and one possible destination is in Singapore. With the lure of significantly higher pay packages (current market rates range from S$4000-S$5000, as opposed to RM2200-RM2800), Singapore seems to be an attractive place to practice.

There are two routes for a Malaysian lawyer to practice in Singapore. The first is to gain admission to the Singapore Bar and be qualified as an advocate and solicitor over there. This will be dealt with in this entry. The second, is to be hired in Singapore as a 'foreign lawyer', the difference being you are, to a large extent, not allowed to practice Singapore law. This will be dealt with in another entry.

Summary
Essentially, a Malaysian young lawyer will still need to complete the 1-year DipSing course, which is then followed by the 5-month PLC course, and 6 months of pupillage. So you are looking at nearly 2 years before you gain admission.

All this applies only if you have graduated from one of the recognised foreign universities along with the necessary grade. Without this, to a very large extent, you cannot gain admission to the Singapore Bar.

'Qualified Person'
The Singapore Board of Legal Education website has all the information you need to to know about gaining admission to the Singapore Bar.

Provisions in the Singapore Legal Profession Act deal with admission of advocates and solicitors.

Section 15 of the Act deals specifically with 'Admission of Malayan practitioners' and states:

15. —(1) A Malayan practitioner who is a qualified person but who does not qualify under subsection (2) may be admitted as an advocate and solicitor without being required to serve any period of pupillage or to attend any course of instruction if he passes such examinations as may be prescribed by the Board.

(2) A Malayan practitioner who is a qualified person and who has been in active practice in any part of West Malaysia for a continuous period of not less than 3 years in the 4 years immediately preceding his application for admission may be admitted as an advocate and solicitor without being required to serve any period of pupillage or to attend any course of instruction or to pass any examination.

A Malaysian pracititioner has to be a 'qualifed person' and so, you have to refer to the Legal Profession (Qualified Persons) Rules (note this online version hasn't been updated to reflect the 2006 amendments). Firstly, the Rules only recognise some overseas universities from the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the US. Secondly, for the UK universities, you essentially need to graduate with a second upper, and for the Australian and New Zealand universities, you need a certification that you were in the top 30% of your cohort. If you have been conferred your degree from 1997 onwards, then you must also sit for the DipSing.

For the definition of a 'qualified person', the relevant section is Rule 8(2)(ii) which states

in the case of a person who has been or is conferred that degree on or after 1st January 1997, he —

(A) has attained at least upper second class honours or the equivalent thereof; and

(B) has obtained the Diploma in Singapore Law.

When I emailed the Board of Legal Education, they were silent on the portion of section 15(1) which talked about passing any examination prescribed by the Board, and merely repeated the requirement of having to complete PLC and pupillage.

What about subsection 15(2) regarding 3 years of continuous practice? In my emails with the Board, the Board clarified that the 3 years of continuous practice only starts running after you have become a 'qualified person' i.e. completed the DipSing. You might as well do the 1 year of PLC+pupillage in Singapore then.

I suspect Section 15 only has any real application to senior Malaysian practitioners for if you had a degree from a UK university and was admitted as a barrister-at-law in England before 1997, you would then be automatically classified as a 'qualified person'. In such a scenario, only then does Section 15(2) seem relevant since the Malaysian practitioner could then be in continuous practice in Malaysia for 3 years, and even then, it is up to the Board's discretion to allow such an application under this sub-section.

DipSing
So if you have the necessary entry requirements (e.g. 2nd Upper from an approved UK university), you may then apply for the Graduate Diploma in Singapore Law (the DipSing) at the National University of Singapore. I have personally heard of at least one Malaysian friend who did not graduate from one of the approved universities, but still successfully applied for the DipSing. Being a foreigner, you also need to get approval from the Ministry of Law to allow you to sit for the DipSing, which is a formality I think. All of my friends received their Ministry of Law approval.

Once you have successfully obtained a place in the DipSing course, there is also the necessity to then apply for your student pass. Unless you are a persona non grata like me, this is also very much a formality.

So welcome to DipSing! It's another year back in your LLB. I personally would cringe at the thought of having the hit the books again, and pick up the academic side of law all over again. What lessens the blow is that you only need to scrape a pass for all your subjects. On top of the compulsory subjects like Singapore Land Law or Criminal Law, you get some options for subjects. When I signed up for my DipSing subjects, I was amazed at the number of options available. Definitely far more subjects to choose from than in the UK. Biotechnology law, IT law, reinsurance law, international commercial arbitration, etc.

Pupillage

Before you apply for DipSing, it is also advisable to make applications for pupillage. Unlike in Malaysia where firms take in pupils all throughout the year, firms in Singapore have a fixed period for pupil interviews, as pupillage in all firms commence at the same time. From what I remember, you should send out all your applications for pupillage before June, and interviews ought to start in around early July. If you are aiming for one of the big firms, apply early, as they fill up their spaces very early on during the interview season.

Conclusion
Guess that's all you initially need to know in taking a step to gaining admission to Singapore. Complete your PLC and pupillage, and you'll gain admission as an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore.

On a personal note, I honestly don't know whether I'd sacrifice 2 years in order to get qualified in Singapore. This is of course dependant on me overcoming the small hurdle of the Singapore immigration department not quite liking me, and my application for a student pass for DipSing being shot down.

I enjoy litigation, so if I still want to continue doing it, I'd have to be called to the Singapore Bar. I doubt I'd enjoy being a foreign lawyer and be confined to purely solicitor work. My impression of Singapore is that they seem to operate on a different level altogether. The scope of the work, the international dimension, the quality of the judges and senior counsel. And yet, I hear of the stress levels over there, the demands placed on you by your firm and the efficient court system. So if I were to consider attempting a jump, I'd take everything into consideration, including the way of life here and the friends I've made.

Note: All the above is based on my own findings or from what I've heard. If anything is inaccurate, let me know so that I can correct some of the above info.