Legal Profession Act 1966

Legal Profession Act 1966 2020 REVISED EDITION This revised edition incorporates all amendments up to and including 1 December 2021 and comes into operation on 31 December 2021 An Act to establish the Singapore Institute of Legal Education, to constitute the Law Society of Singapore and to amend and consolidate the law relating to the legal profession. [8/2011] [9 January 1967: Sections 1, 2, 141, 146 and 147 ; 11 February 1967: Except sections 1, 2, 141, 146 and 147 ] PART 1 PRELIMINARY Short title 1. This Act is the Legal Profession Act 1966. Interpretation 2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires — “Academy” means the Singapore Academy of Law established under the Singapore Academy of Law Act 1988; “active practice” does not include practice as a locum solicitor or provisional practice; [Act 37 of 2023 wef 17/07/2024] “advocate and solicitor”, “advocate” and “solicitor” mean an advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court; “Board of Legal Education” means the Board of Legal Education established under section 3 in force immediately before 3 May 2011; “client” includes — (a) in relation to contentious business — any person who, as a principal or on behalf of another person, retains or employs, or is about to retain or employ, a solicitor, and any person who is or may be liable to pay the costs of a solicitor, law corporation or limited liability law partnership; and (b) in relation to non-contentious business — (i) any person who, as a principal or on behalf of another, or as a trustee, an executor or an administrator, or in any other capacity, has power (express or implied) to retain or employ, and retains or employs or is about to retain or employ, a solicitor, law corporation or limited liability law partnership; and (ii) any person for the time being liable to pay a solicitor, law corporation or limited liability law partnership for his, her or its services any costs; “constituent foreign law practice”, in relation to a Joint Law Venture, means the foreign law practice which constitutes part of the Joint Law Venture; “constituent Singapore law practice”, in relation to a Joint Law Venture, means the Singapore law practice which constitutes part of the Joint Law Venture; “contentious business” means business done in or for the purposes of proceedings begun before a court of justice or before an arbitrator; “costs” includes fees, charges, disbursements, expenses and remuneration; “Council” means the Council of the Society established under section 47; “court” means the General Division of the High Court or a Judge sitting in open court in the General Division of the High Court; “Director of Legal Services” means the Director of Legal Services appointed under section 2A(1); “Disciplinary Tribunal” means a Disciplinary Tribunal appointed by the Chief Justice under section 90(1); “eligible person” means — (a) a lawyer (NP); or (b) a person who is approved by the Minister as an eligible person under section 14(1); [Act 37 of 2023 wef 17/07/2024] “foreign law” means the law of any state or territory other than Singapore, and includes international law; “foreign law practice” means a law practice (including a sole proprietorship, a partnership or a body corporate, whether with or without limited liability) providing legal services in any foreign law in Singapore or elsewhere, but does not include a Singapore law practice; “foreign lawyer” means an individual who is duly authorised or registered to practise law in a state or territory other than Singapore by a foreign authority having the function conferred by law of authorising or registering persons to practise law in that state or territory; “foreign practitioner certificate” means a certificate issued in respect of the registration of a foreign lawyer under section 36B; “Formal Law Alliance” means a Formal Law Alliance licensed under section 170; “Inquiry Committee” means an Inquiry Committee constituted under section 85(10); “Institute” means the Singapore Institute of Legal Education established under section 3; “investigator” means an investigator appointed under section 2B(2); “Joint Law Venture” means a Joint Law Venture licensed under section 169; “Judge” means a Judge sitting in chambers in the General Division of the High Court; “law corporation” means a company licensed as a law corporation under section 153; “law firm” means a partnership, or a practice of a solicitor who practises on his or her own account, which is licensed as a law firm under section 131; “law practice entity” means any of the following: (a) a Singapore law practice; (b) a Joint Law Venture; (c) the constituent foreign law practice of a Joint Law Venture; (d) a Formal Law Alliance; (e) a foreign law practice which is a member of a Formal Law Alliance; (f) a Qualifying Foreign Law Practice; (g) a licensed foreign law practice; (h) a representative office; “lawyer (NP)” or “lawyer (non-practitioner)” means a person admitted as a lawyer (NP) under section 11A; [Act 37 of 2023 wef 17/07/2024] “lay person”, in relation to the Inquiry Panel or an Inquiry Committee, means an architect, an accountant, a banker, a company director, an insurer, a professional engineer, a medical practitioner or any other person (not being an advocate and solicitor, a lawyer (NP), a Judicial Service Officer or a Legal Service Officer) who meets such criteria as may be approved by the Chief Justice and the Attorney-General; [Act 33 of 2021 wef 14/01/2022] [Act 37 of 2023 wef 17/07/2024] [Deleted by Act 33 of 2021 wef 14/01/2022] “licensed foreign law practice” means a foreign law practice licensed under section 172; “limited liability law partnership” means a limited liability partnership licensed as a limited liability law partnership under section 138; “locum solicitor” means an advocate and solicitor engaged (whether concurrently or otherwise) on a temporary or freelance basis by one or more law firms, law corporations, limited liability law partnerships or solicitors practising on their own account; “practice trainee” means a qualified person or eligible person who is serving his or her practice training period; [Act 37 of 2023 wef 17/07/2024] “practice training contract” means a formal training arrangement between — (a) a qualified person or eligible person and a Singapore law practice; or (b) a qualified person or eligible person and a qualifying entity, pursuant to which the qualified person or eligible person receives, and the Singapore law practice or qualifying entity provides, supervised training in relation to the practice of Singapore law; [Act 37 of 2023 wef 17/07/2024] “practice training period” means the period during which a qualified person or eligible person is required to receive supervised training in relation to the practice of Singapore law before he or she can be admitted as an advocate and solicitor; [Act 37 of 2023 wef 17/07/2024] “practise Singapore law” means doing work, or transacting business, in relation to the laws of Singapore, being work or business of a kind that is the right or privilege of an advocate and solicitor under Part 4; “practising certificate” means a certificate issued by the Registrar under section 25; “provisional practice” means the doing of any act in the capacity of an advocate and solicitor under the supervision of a solicitor while having in force a provisional practising certificate, and “practise provisionally” has a corresponding meaning; [Act 37 of 2023 wef 17/07/2024] “provisional practising certificate” means a certificate issued by the Registrar under section 18; [Act 37 of 2023 wef 17/07/2024] “public accountant” means a person who is registered or deemed to be registered under the Accountants Act 2004 as a public accountant; “qualified person” means any person who — (a) possesses such qualifications as the Minister may prescribe under subsection (2), or may deem under section 14(2) or (3) as in force immediately before the date of commencement of section 9(e) of the Legal Profession (Amendment) Act 2023 or under section 11C(2) or (3) to be so prescribed, and satisfies such requirements as the Minister may prescribe under subsection (2); [Act 37 of 2023 wef 17/07/2024] (b) was approved by the Board of Legal Education as a qualified person under section 7 in force immediately before 9 October 2009; or (c) is approved by the Minister as a qualified person under section 15A(1) of this Act as in force immediately before 3 May 2011, under section 14(1) as in force immediately before the date of commencement of section 9(d) of the Legal Profession (Amendment) Act 2023 or under section 11C(1); [Act 37 of 2023 wef 17/07/2024] “qualifying entity” means any sole proprietorship, incorporated or unincorporated partnership or body corporate that is not a Singapore law practice, and that either satisfies the criteria prescribed for a qualifying entity by rules made under section 10, or is approved as a qualifying entity under those rules; [Act 37 of 2023 wef 17/07/2024] “Qualifying Foreign Law Practice” means a foreign law practice licensed under section 171; “register of practitioners” means the annual register by that name kept by the Registrar under section 27; [Act 37 of 2023 wef 17/07/2024] “register of provisional practitioners” means the annual register by that name kept by the Registrar under section 24; [Act 37 of 2023 wef 17/07/2024] “Registrar” means the Registrar of the Supreme Court and includes the Deputy Registrar and an Assistant Registrar; “regulated foreign lawyer” means a foreign lawyer who is registered under section 36B, 36C or 36D, or who is granted an approval under section 176(1), and includes, for the purposes of Part 7, a foreign lawyer whose registration under section 36B, 36C or 36D or approval under section 176(1) is cancelled or suspended, or lapses, after the commencement of disciplinary proceedings against the foreign lawyer; “regulated legal practitioner” means an advocate and solicitor, a regulated foreign lawyer or (except as otherwise expressly provided) a lawyer (NP) who has in force a provisional practising certificate; [Act 37 of 2023 wef 17/07/2024] “regulated non-practitioner” means an individual (not being an advocate and solicitor who has in force a practising certificate, a lawyer (NP) who has in force a provisional practising certificate, or a regulated foreign lawyer) who is a director, partner or shareholder in, or who shares in the profits of, any Singapore law practice, Joint Law Venture, Qualifying Foreign Law Practice or licensed foreign law practice, and includes, for the purposes of Part 7, an individual who ceases to be a director, partner or shareholder in, or to share in the profits of, a Singapore law practice, Joint Law Venture, Qualifying Foreign Law Practice or licensed foreign law practice after the commencement of disciplinary proceedings against the individual; [Act 37 of 2023 wef 17/07/2024] “relevant legal officer” means — (a) a Judicial Service Officer or Legal Service Officer; or [Act 37 of 2023 wef 17/07/2024] (b) a legal officer of such statutory body or law office in the public service as the Minister may prescribe by rules in the Gazette; “remedial measure” means a remedial measure prescribed by rules made under section 97A for the purposes of Part 7; “representative office” means an office set up in Singapore by a foreign law practice to carry out only liaison or promotional work for the foreign law practice, without providing legal services in Singapore; “Review Committee” means a Review Committee constituted under section 85(6); “roll of advocates and solicitors” means the roll of advocates and solicitors of the Supreme Court maintained under section 16; [Act 37 of 2023 wef 17/07/2024] “roll of lawyers (NP)” means the roll of lawyers (NP) of the Supreme Court maintained under section 11D; [Act 37 of 2023 wef 17/07/2024] “Rules Committee” means the Rules Committee constituted under any written law for the time being in force with the power to make rules regulating procedure in the Supreme Court; “Senate” means the Senate of the Academy established under section 5 of the Singapore Academy of Law Act 1988; “Singapore law practice” means — (a) a law firm; (b) a limited liability law partnership; or (c) a law corporation; “Society” means the Law Society of Singapore established under section 37; “trust” and “trustee” extend to implied and constructive trusts and to cases where the trustee has a beneficial interest in the trust property and to the duties incident to the office of a personal representative; and “trustee”, where the context admits, includes a personal representative; “wholly-owned subsidiary of the Society” includes a company limited by guarantee the sole member of which is the Society. [20/2009; 8/2011; 40/2014; 22/2018; 40/2019] (2) For the purposes of the definition of “qualified person” in subsection (1), the Minister may, after consulting the Board of Directors of the Institute, make rules to prescribe the qualifications, education and training for, and any other requirements that must be satisfied by, persons seeking to be qualified persons under this Act. [8/2011] (3) Without limiting subsection (2), rules made thereunder may — (a) prescribe the institutions of higher learning, and the courses provided and qualifications conferred thereby, which may be recognised for the purposes of this Act, and may include provisions for the review by the Institute of the syllabus and contents of such courses and examinations leading to such qualifications; (b) specify the minimum standard of attainment, including the class of honours, to be achieved by persons who possess any of the prescribed qualifications; (c) prescribe such courses, tests or examinations to be undergone by persons who possess any of the prescribed qualifications; (d) provide for the exemption of any person or classes of persons from any of the provisions thereof by the Minister or by the Institute; and (e) include such incidental, supplementary or transitional provisions as may be necessary or expedient. [8/2011] (4) References to an employee of a solicitor or law firm or law corporation or limited liability law partnership are to be construed to include a locum solicitor engaged by the solicitor or law firm or law corporation or limited liability law partnership (as the case may be) and references to being employed by a solicitor or law firm or law corporation or limited liability law partnership are to be construed accordingly, in the following provisions: (a) sections 78, 140, 141, 142, 155, 156, 157 and 159; (b) the definition of “specified person” in section 79(2); (c) paragraphs 1(1)(a)(ii), 5(1)(d) and 8A(1)(d) of the First Schedule; and (d) the Second Schedule. [40/2014] (5) In the definition of “specified person” in section 79(2), a reference to a member of a law firm is to be construed to include a locum solicitor engaged by the law firm. (6) Unless it is expressly provided to the contrary — (a) references to a partnership in this Act; or (b) references to a law firm or firm in this Act, do not include a reference to a limited liability partnership. [40/2014]