Advocates and Solicitors (Amendment) Ordinance

Bill No. 174/1962

Read the first time on 26th March 1962.
An Ordinance to amend the Advocates and Solicitors Ordinance (Chapter 188 of the Revised Edition).
Be it enacted by the Yang di-Pertuan Negara with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Singapore, as follows: —
Short title
1.  This Ordinance may be cited as the Advocates and Solicitors (Amendment) Ordinance, 1962.
New section 7A
2.  The Advocates and Solicitors Ordinance (hereinafter in this Ordinance referred to as the “principal Ordinance”) is hereby amended by inserting immediately after section 7 thereof the following new section: —
Ad hoc. admission
7A.—(1)  Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Ordinance the Supreme Court may at its discretion and for the purpose of any one case admit to practise as an advocate and solicitor any person other than a practising advocate and solicitor of the Federation of Malaya —
(a)who holds Her Majesty’s patent as Queen’s Counsel; and
(b)who does not ordinarily reside in Malaya but who has come or intends to come to Singapore for the purpose of appearing in such case.
(2)  Any person applying to be admitted under the provisions of this section shall do so by originating motion verified by an affidavit of the applicant or of an advocate and solicitor on his behalf stating the names of the parties and brief particulars of the case in which the applicant intends to appear and the originating motion and affidavit or affidavits shall be served on the State Advocate-General and on the Secretary of the Bar Committee and at the time of such service the applicant shall pay a fee of one hundred dollars to the Bar Committee for its costs incurred in the application.
(3)  The Registrar shall on payment of the prescribed fee issue to every person admitted under the provisions of this section a certificate to practise specifying in it the case in which such person is permitted to appear and any person to whom a certificate to practise has been issued under the provisions of this subsection shall for the purpose of his employment in such case be deemed to be a person to whom a certificate to practise has been issued under the provisions of section 24 of this Ordinance.
(4)  The Registrar shall not enter the names of persons admitted under the provisions of this section upon the roll of advocates and solicitors kept under the provisions of section 3 of this Ordinance, but shall keep a separate roll for persons admitted under this section.
(5)  In this section the word “case” includes any interlocutory or appeal proceedings connected with a case.”.
Amendment of section 8
3.  Section 8 of the principal Ordinance is hereby amended by deleting the words “British subject or British protected person” appearing in the first line thereof and substituting therefor the words “citizen of Singapore”.
Amendment of section 9
4.  Subsection (1) of section 9 of the principal Ordinance is hereby amended by deleting the words “British subject or British protected person” appearing in the first line thereof and substituting therefor the words “citizen of Singapore”.
Amendment of section 21
5.  Section 21 of the principal Ordinance is hereby amended by deleting the words “British subject or British protected person” appearing in the last line thereof and substituting therefor the words “citizen of Singapore”.
Amendment of section 24
6.  Subsection (2) of section 24 of the principal Ordinance is hereby amended by inserting immediately after the word “duty” appearing in the first line thereof the expression “and upon satisfying the Registrar that the provisions of sections 41A and 41B of this Ordinance have been complied with by him or by some other advocate and solicitor by whom he is employed”.
Amendment of section 27
7.  Section 27 of the principal Ordinance is hereby amended —
(a)by inserting immediately after the words “Judge thereof” appearing in the first line thereof the words “or the State Advocate-General”; and
(b)by inserting immediately after the word “Judge” appearing in the marginal note thereto the words “or State Advocate-General”.
Repeal and re-enactment of section 35
8.  Section 35 of the principal Ordinance is hereby repealed and the following substituted thererfor: —
Solicitor’s clerks
35.—(1)  No solicitor shall in connection with his practice as such, without the consent of the court obtained on an application by originating summons served upon the State Advocate-General and upon the Bar Committee employ or remunerate any person (other than an advocate and solicitor or a qualified person) who to his knowledge has been —
(a)struck off the roll otherwise than at his own request and remains struck off;
(b)suspended from practising as an advocate and solicitor in Singapore or the Federation of Malaya or elsewhere and remains suspended;
(c)convicted of an offence involving dishonesty;
(d)convicted of an offence under section 35 of the Minor Offences Ordinance (Cap. 117) or under section 46 of this Ordinance;
(e)listed as a tout under section 100 of the Courts Ordinance (Cap. 3);
(f)a person in respect of whom an order under subsection (2) of this section has been made; or
(g)employed as a public officer.
(2)  On application made by or on behalf of the State Advocate-General or the Bar Committee the court may make an order directing that, as from the date to be specified in such order, no solicitor shall in connection with his practice as such employer remunerate any person, the subject of the application, who —
(a)has been a party to any act or default of a solicitor in respect of which a complaint has been or might properly have been made against such solicitor under the provisions of this Ordinance; or
(b)has so conducted himself whilst employed by a solicitor that, had he himself been a solicitor, such conduct might have formed the subject of a complaint under the provisions of this Ordinance against him.
(3)  Every application under subsection (2) of this section shall be served upon the person in respect of whom it is made and upon his employer or previous employer if such employer or previous employer is a solicitor not less than ten days before the application is to be heard.
(4)  Every order made under subsection (2) of this section, shall be filed in a file to be kept for this purpose by the Registrar and such file may be inspected by any solicitor without fee.
(5)  Before a solicitor employs or remunerates any person (other than an advocate and solicitor or a qualified person) in connection with his practice as such, he shall require such person to make a statutory declaration to show that he does not come within the class of persons enumerated in paragraphs (a) to (g) of subsection (1) of this section and that he is not a person in respect of whom an order has been made under subsection (2) of this section.
(6)  Disciplinary proceedings may be taken against any solicitor who acts in contravention of the provisions of this section.”.
New sections 41A, 41B and 41C
9.  The principal Ordinance is hereby amended by inserting immediately after section 41 thereof the following new sections: —
Rules as to keeping of accounts by advocates and solicitors
41A.—(1)  The Bar Committee shall make rules —
(a)as to the opening and keeping by solicitors of accounts at banks for clients’ money; and
(b)as to the keeping by solicitors of accounts containing particulars and information as to moneys received, held or paid by them for or on account of their clients; and
(c)empowering the said Committee to take such action as may be necessary to enable them to ascertain whether or not the rules are being complied with.
(2)  The Bar Committee shall also make rules —
(a)as to the opening and keeping by every solicitor who is a sole trustee, or who is co-trustee only with one or more of his partners, clerks or servants, of an account at a bank for moneys of any trust of which he is such a sole trustee or co-trustee; and
(b)as to the keeping by every such solicitor of accounts containing particulars and information as to moneys received, held or paid by him for or on account of any such trust; and
(c)empowering the said Committee to take such action as may be necessary to enable them to ascertain whether or not the rules are being complied with.
(3)  If a solicitor fails to comply with any rules made under this section, any person may make a complaint in respect of that failure to the Bar Committee.
(4)  In this section the expressions “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.
Accountants’ certificates
41B.—(1)  Every solicitor shall once in each period of twelve months ending with the last day of December, unless he produces to the Registrar a certificate from the Bar Committee that owing to the circumstances of his case it is unnecessary so to do, deliver to the Registrar a certificate signed by an accountant (in this section referred to as an “accountant’s certificate”) stating —
(a)that in compliance with this section and any rules made thereunder the accountant has examined the books, accounts and documents of the solicitor or his firm for such accounting period as may be specified in the certificate;
(b)whether or not the accountant is satisfied, from his examination of the books, accounts and documents produced to him and from the information and explanations given to him, that during the said accounting period the solicitor or his firm has complied with any rules made under subsection (1) of section 41A of this Ordinance; and
(c)if the accountant is not satisfied as aforesaid, the matters in respect of which he is not so satisfied.
(2)  The Registrar shall within fourteen days of the receipt of the accountant’s certificate send the certificate to the Secretary of the Bar Committee.
(3)  Subject to any rules made under this section, the accounting period for the purposes of an accountant’s certificate shall —
(a)begin at the expiry of the last preceding accounting period for which an accountant’s certificate has been delivered;
(b)cover not less than twelve months;
(c)terminate not more than twelve months, or such less period as the said rules may prescribe, before the date of the delivery of the certificate to the Registrar; and
(d)where possible, consistently with paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of this subsection, correspond to a period or consecutive periods for which the accounts of the solicitor or his firm are ordinarily made up.
(4)  The Bar Committee shall make rules to give effect to the provisions of this section, and those rules shall prescribe —
(a)what qualification shall be held by an accountant by whom an accountant’s certificate may be given; and
(b)the nature and extent of the examination to be made by the accountant of the books and accounts of a solicitor or his firm and of any other relevant documents with a view to the signing of a certificate to be delivered by the solicitor under this section.
(5)  Any such rules may include provision for —
(a)permitting in such special circumstances as may be defined in the rules a different accounting period from that specified in subsection (3) of this section; and
(b)regulating any matters of procedure or matters incidental, ancillary or supplemental to the provisions of this section.
(6)  If any solicitor fails to comply with the provisions of this section or of any rules made thereunder, a complaint in respect of that failure may be made by any person to the Bar Committee.
Coming into operation of rules
41C.—(1)  Any rules made by the Bar Committee under section 41A or 41B of this Ordinance shall be submitted for the approval of the Council of Judges and the Council of Judges shall fix a date not less than six months from the date of such approval when such rules shall come into operation.
(2)  No solicitor shall be required to deliver an accountant’s certificate under section 41B in respect of any period prior to the 31st day of December 1962.
Compensation Fund
41D.—(1)  The Bar Committee shall maintain and administer in accordance with this section a fund to be known as the “Compensation Fund” (hereinafter in this section referred to as “the Fund”).
(2)  Every solicitor shall on each occasion on which a certificate to practise is issued to him pay to the Bar Committee a contribution of such sum not exceeding one hundred dollars as the Bar Committee may from time to time determine and the Bar Committee shall pay that contribution to the Fund.
(3)  The Bar Committee may invest any moneys which form part of the Fund and are not immediately required for any other purposes and for the purposes of this section the Bar Committee shall have all the powers had by trustees under the law for the time being in force in Singapore.
(4)  The Bar Committee may borrow for the purposes of the Fund from any lender and may charge any investments of the Fund by way of security for such loan.
(5)  The Bar Committee may insure with any person authorised by law to carry on insurance business within Singapore for such purpose and on such terms as the Bar Committee may deem expedient in relation to the Fund.
(6)  There shall be carried to the credit of the Fund —
(a)all annual contributions paid to the Bar Committee in pursuance of subsection (2) of this section;
(b)all interest, dividends and other income or accretions of capital arising from the investment of the Fund or any part thereof;
(c)the proceeds of any realization of any investments of the Fund;
(d)all moneys borrowed for the purposes of the Fund;
(e)all sums received by the Bar Committee under any insurance effected by the Bar Committee under subsection (5) of this section; and
(f)any other moneys which may belong or accrue to the Fund or be received by the Bar Committee in respect thereof.
(7)  All moneys from time to time forming part of the Fund and all investments of the Fund shall be applicable —
(a)for payment of any costs, charges and expenses of establishing, maintaining, administering and applying the Fund;
(b)for payment of any premiums on insurances effected by the Bar Committee under subsection (5) of this section;
(c)for repayment of any moneys borrowed by the Bar Committee and for payment of interest on any moneys so borrowed;
(d)for payment of any grants which the Bar Committee may make under subsection (8) of this section; and
(e)for payment of any other sums properly payable out of the Fund by virtue of this section.
(8)  Where it is proved to the satisfaction of the Bar Committee that any person has sustained loss in consequence of dishonesty on the part of any solicitor or any clerk or servant of a solicitor in connection with that solicitor’s practice in Singapore as a solicitor or in connection with any trust in Singapore of which that solicitor is a trustee, then subject to the provisions of this section, the Bar Committee may, if it thinks fit, make a grant to that person out of the Fund for the purpose of relieving or mitigating that loss.
(9)  A grant may be made under this section whether or not the solicitor has a certificate to practise in force when the act of dishonesty was committed and notwithstanding that subsequent to the commission of that act the solicitor has died or had his name removed from or struck off the roll or has ceased to practise or been suspended from practice:
Provided that no grant shall be made under this section in respect of any loss due to any act of dishonesty where such loss came to the knowledge of the loser or applicant for such grant before the 31st day of December 1962.
(10)  On the making by the Bar Committee of any grant under this section to any person in respect of any loss —
(a)the Bar Committee shall to the amount of the grant be subrogated to any rights and remedies in respect of the loss of the person to whom the grant is made or of the solicitor, clerk or servant;
(b)the person to whom the grant is made shall have no right under bankruptcy or other legal proceedings or otherwise to receive any sum out of the assets of the solicitor, clerk or servant in respect of the loss until the Bar Committee has been reimbursed the full amount of its grant,
and in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection references to the person to whom the grant is made or to the solicitor, clerk or servant shall include, in the event of his death, insolvency or other disability, references to his personal representative or any other person having authority to administer the estate.
(11)  The Bar Committee may make rules with respect to the procedure to be followed in giving effect to the provisions of this section and with respect to any matters incidental, ancillary or supplemental to these provisions or concerning the administration or protection of the Fund and no grant shall be made under this section in respect of any loss unless notice of the loss is received by the Bar Committee in such manner and within such time after the loss first came to the knowledge of the loser as may be prescribed by the rules.”.
Amendment of section 45
10.  Section 45 of the principal Ordinance is hereby amended by deleting the words “a judge or the Registrar” appearing in the fifth line of subsection (1) thereof and substituting therefor the words “a Judge of the Supreme Court or the Registrar or a District Judge or Registrar of a District Court”.
Amendment of section 49
11.  Section 49 of the principal Ordinance is hereby amended by deleting the expression “, or by commission, or percentage, or salary” appearing in the fifth line thereof.