Legal Profession Act

(CHAPTER 161)

(Original Enactment: Act 57 of 1966)

REVISED EDITION 1990

(20th December 1990)

An Act to establish the Board of Legal Education, to constitute the Law Society of Singapore and to amend and consolidate the law relating to the legal profession.

[11th February 1967]

PART I

PRELIMINARY

Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Legal Profession Act.

Interpretation

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;

“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;

“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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