PART I | 1. This Act may be cited as the Legal Profession Act. |
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —| “Academy” means the Singapore Academy of Law established under the Singapore Academy of Law Act 1988 [Cap. 294A]; |
| “advocate and solicitor”, “advocate” and “solicitor” mean an advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court; |
| “Board” means the Board of Legal Education established under section 3; |
“client” includes —| (a) | in relation to contentious business, any person who as 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 a solicitor’s costs; and | | (b) | in relation to non-contentious business, any person who, as a principal or on behalf of another, or as a trustee, executor or 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, and any person for the time being liable to pay a solicitor for his services any costs; |
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| “contentious business” means business done, whether as solicitor or as advocate, 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 High Court or a judge when sitting in open court, and “judge” means a judge of the Supreme Court sitting in chambers; |
| “Disciplinary Committee” means a committee appointed by the Chief Justice under section 90; |
| “Faculty” means the Faculty of Law of the National University of Singapore; |
| “Inquiry Committee” means an Inquiry Committee constituted under section 85; |
| “lay person”, in relation to an Inquiry Committee or Disciplinary Committee, means an architect, accountant, banker, company director, insurer, professional engineer, medical practitioner or a person who possesses such other qualifications as may be approved by the Chief Justice and the Attorney-General; |
| “legal officer” means a qualified person in the judicial or legal service of Singapore; |
| “Malayan practitioner” means any qualified person entitled to practise before a High Court in any part of Western Malaysia; |
| “practising certificate” means a certificate issued by the Registrar under section 25; |
“qualified person” means any person who —| (a) | has passed the final examination for the degree of Bachelor of Laws in the University of Malaya in Singapore, the University of Singapore or the National University of Singapore; | | (b) | is a barrister-at-law of England or of Northern Ireland or a member of the Faculty of Advocates in Scotland; | | (c) | is a solicitor in England or Northern Ireland or a writer to the Signet, law agent or solicitor in Scotland; or | | (d) | is in possession of such other degree or qualification as may be declared by the Minister under section 6 and has obtained a certificate from the Board under that section; |
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| “register of practitioners” means the annual register kept by the Registrar under section 27; |
| “Registrar” means the Registrar of the Supreme Court and includes the Deputy Registrar and an Assistant Registrar; |
| “roll” means the roll of advocates and solicitors of the Supreme Court kept under section 24; |
| “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; |
| “Society” means the Law Society of Singapore established under section 36; |
| “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. [17/84; 30/86; 15/89] |
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