Legal Profession (Amendment) Act 1986 - Singapore Statutes Online

REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE

ACTS SUPPLEMENT

Published by Authority

NO. 30]

Friday, October 31

[1986

The following Act was passed by Parliament on 27th October 1986 and assented to by the President on 30th October 1986:—

Legal Profession (Amendment) Act 1986

(No. 30 of 1986)

I assent.

WEE KIM WEE

President.

30th October 1986.

Date of Commencement: 31st October 1986

An Act to amend the Legal Profession Act (Chapter 217 of the Revised Edition).

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows:

Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Legal Profession (Amendment) Act 1986.

Amendment of section 2

2. Section 2 of the Legal Profession Act (referred to in this Act as the principal Act) is amended by deleting the definition of “Inquiry Committee” and substituting the following definitions:

“ “Inquiry Committee” means an Inquiry Committee constituted under section 86;

“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;”.

Amendment of section 39

3. Section 39 (1) (c) of the principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after the word “legislation”, the words “submitted to it”.

Amendment of section 51

4. Section 51 of the principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after subsection (2), the following subsections:

“(2A) Subject to subsection (2B), a practitioner member who has been struck off the roll or suspended from practising as an advocate and solicitor for a period of 6 months or more or has been convicted of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty shall not be eligible for election or appointment as a member of the Council.

(2B) A practitioner member may, after a period of 5 years following the date of his conviction or the date he was reinstated to the roll or the date of the expiry of his suspension, whichever is the later, with the leave of a court of 3 judges one of whom shall be the Chief Justice, be eligible for election or appointment as a member of the Council.

(2C) Where an application for leave under subsection (2B) has been turned down, the applicant shall not be entitled to make another application under that subsection within a period of 5 years from the date the first-mentioned application was dismissed.

(2D) An application for leave under subsection (2B) shall be made by motion.

(2E) The court of 3 judges shall not give leave under subsection (2B) unless —

(a)	notice of intention to apply therefor and all documents in support thereof have been served at least 14 clear days before the date of the hearing on the Attorney-General and on the Society, either or both of whom may be represented at the hearing of, and may oppose the application;
(b)	the applicant satisfies the court that his conduct since his conviction, striking-out or suspension did not make him unfit to be a member of the Council; and
(c)	the applicant exhibits affidavits of at least two practitioner members who are and have been in active practice in Singapore for a total of not less than 5 out of the 7 years immediately preceding the date of the application attesting to the applicant’s good behaviour from the date of his conviction, striking-out or suspension and stating whether in their opinion he is a fit and proper person to be a member of the Council.

(2F) A practitioner member shall before his appointment or election as a member of the Council file a declaration with the Society stating that he is not disqualified from holding office as a member of the Council by virtue of subsection (2A) or, if he is so disqualified, stating that he has obtained the leave of the court under subsection (2B) for election or appointment as a member of the Council.

(2G) Any person who fails to comply with subsection (2F) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000.”.

Amendment of section 59

5. Section 59 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and substituting the following paragraph:

“(a)	he has been struck off the roll or suspended from practising as an advocate and solicitor or has been convicted of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty;”;

(b)

by inserting, immediately after the words “section 55” in subsection (3), the words “or under subsection (1) of section 57”; and

(c)

by inserting, immediately after subsection (3), the following subsection:

“(4) Subsections (1) and (2) shall not apply to a member of the Council who has obtained the leave of the court under section 51(2B) prior to his election or appointment as a member of the Council.”.

Amendment of section 61

6. Section 61 (1) (d) of the principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after the word “legislation”, the words “submitted to it”.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 85

7. Section 85 of the principal Act is repealed and the following section substituted therefor:

“Appointment of Inquiry Panel

85.—(1) For the purpose of enabling Inquiry Committees to be constituted in accordance with this Part, the Chief Justice shall appoint a panel (hereinafter referred to as the Inquiry Panel) consisting of not more than 20 advocates and solicitors (whether in practice or not) and not more than 20 lay persons.

(2) An advocate and solicitor shall be eligible to be appointed as a member of the Inquiry Panel if he has not less than 12 years’ standing.

(3) A member of the Inquiry Panel shall be appointed for a term of 3 years and shall be eligible for re-appointment.

(4) The Chief Justice may at any time remove from office any member of the Inquiry Panel or fill any vacancy in its membership.

(5) The Chief Justice shall appoint a member of the Inquiry Panel to be the Chairman.”.

Amendment of section 86

8. Section 86 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting the words “Inquiry Committee” at the end of subsection (1) and substituting the words “Chairman of the Inquiry Panel”;

(b)

by deleting subsections (2) and (3) and substituting the following subsections:

“(2) The Supreme Court or any judge thereof or the Attorney-General may at any time refer to the Society any information touching upon the conduct of a solicitor in his professional capacity and the Council shall issue a written order to the Chairman of the Inquiry Panel to constitute an Inquiry Committee or apply to the Chief Justice to appoint a Disciplinary Committee where the Supreme Court or the judge thereof or the Attorney-General requests that the matter or complaint be referred to a Disciplinary Committee.

(2A) Where a written application or complaint is referred to the Chairman of the Inquiry Panel, he shall forthwith constitute an Inquiry Committee consisting of —

(a)	two members of the Inquiry Panel who are advocates and solicitors;
(b)	one member of the Inquiry Panel who is a lay person; and
(c)	a legal officer who has not less than 10 years’ experience,

to inquire into the application or complaint.

(2B) The chairman of an Inquiry Committee shall be an advocate and solicitor and shall have a casting vote.

(2C) All the members of an Inquiry Committee shall be personally present to constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business.

(3) Every written application or complaint received by the Society shall be supported by such statutory declarations or affidavits as the Chairman of the Inquiry Panel or an Inquiry Committee may require.”; and

(c)

by deleting subsection (5).

Amendment of section 87

9. Section 87 of the principal Act is amended by deleting subsection (1) and substituting the following subsection:

“(1) An Inquiry Committee shall, within two weeks of its appointment, commence its inquiry into the matter and report its findings to the Council as expeditiously as may be reasonably expected of it but in any event not later than two months after the commencement of such inquiry.”.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 90

10. Section 90 of the principal Act is repealed and the following section substituted therefor:

“Application to appoint a Disciplinary Committee

90. Where —

(a)	the Council determines under section 88 that there should be a formal investigation; or
(b)	an advocate and solicitor has been convicted of an offence of criminal breach of trust under section 409 of the Penal Code (Cap. 103) or any other offence involving fraud or dishonesty,

the Council shall forthwith apply to the Chief Justice to appoint a Disciplinary Committee which shall hear and investigate the matter.”.

Amendment of section 91

11. Section 91 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting subsection (1) and substituting the following subsection:

“(1) The Chief Justice may from time to time appoint one or more committees comprising —

(a)	a person from a panel of not more than 5 persons appointed by the Chief Justice being retired judges or persons who have had not less than 12 years’ experience as advocates and solicitors;
(b)	an advocate and solicitor who has in force a practising certificate;
(c)	a legal officer who has at least 10 years’ experience; and
(d)	a member of the Inquiry Panel who is a lay person,

to be known for the purposes of this Act as Disciplinary Committees.”;

(b)

by deleting the words “consist of such number of members not being less than three nor more than five as the Chief Justice may from time to time think fit and shall” in subsection (2);

(c)

by deleting the words “or subject to the limits aforesaid increase the number of the members of a Disciplinary Committee” in subsection (3); and

(d)

by inserting, immediately after subsection (5), the following subsections:

“(6) The lay person who is a member of a Disciplinary Committee shall not vote on any question or matter to be decided by the Disciplinary Committee and need not be present at every meeting of the Disciplinary Committee.

(7) Except as provided in subsection (6), all members of a Disciplinary Committee shall be personally present to constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business.

(8) A member of a Disciplinary Committee appointed under paragraph (a) of subsection (1) who is not a practising advocate and solicitor shall be paid for each case such remuneration as the Chief Justice may determine.”.

Amendment of section 92

12. Section 92 (1) of the principal Act is amended —

(a)	by deleting the colon at the end of the third line and substituting a full-stop; and
(b)	by deleting the proviso.

New section 92A

13. The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 92, the following section:

“Person who made the complaint, etc

92A. Where the Supreme Court or a judge thereof or the Attorney-General has referred to the Society any information touching upon the conduct of an advocate and solicitor in his professional capacity, all references in this Part to a person who made the written application or complaint shall be construed to include a reference to the Attorney-General.”.

Amendment of section 93

14. Section 93 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by inserting, immediately after subsection (2), the following subsection:

“(2A) A Disciplinary Committee shall carry out its work expeditiously and the Society may apply to the Chief Justice for directions to be given to the Disciplinary Committee if the Disciplinary Committee fails to make any finding and determination within 6 months from the date of its appointment.”;

(b)

by deleting the words “and to the person who made the application or complaint” in subsection (3)(b); and

(c)

by inserting, immediately after subsection (3), the following subsections:

“(4) The findings and determination of the Disciplinary Committee shall be published.

(5) A copy of the entire record of the proceedings of the Disciplinary Committee including its findings and determination shall be made public and copies thereof shall be made available to the members of the public upon payment of the prescribed fee.”.

Amendment of section 97

15. Section 97 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)	by inserting, immediately after the word “complaint” in the eighth and ninth lines of subsection (1), the words “or the Council”;
(b)	by deleting the word “he” in the ninth line of subsection (1) and substituting the words “that person or the Council”;
(c)	by inserting, immediately after the word “applicant” in subsection (3)(b), the words “or the Council”; and
(d)	by inserting, immediately after the words “subsection (3)” in the second line of subsection (4), the words “on the application of a person other than the Council”.

Amendment of section 98

16. Section 98 of the principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after subsection (7), the following subsection:

“(7A) The Chief Justice or any other Judge of the Supreme Court shall not be a member of the court of 3 judges when the application under subsection (6) is in respect of a complaint made or information referred to the Society by him.”.

Transitional provisions

17. Notwithstanding the amendments made to the provisions of the principal Act by this Act —

(a)	all persons appointed before the commencement of this Act as members of an Inquiry Committee or a Disciplinary Committee shall continue to act until their appointments have been revoked; and
(b)	all investigations, inquiries and proceedings commenced or instituted before the commencement of this Act may be carried on or continued in accordance with the provisions of the principal Act as amended by this Act with such modifications as are necessary or proper in order to bring them into conformity with those provisions.

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