Legal Profession (Qualified Persons) (Amendment) Rules 2006

Status:

Published in Subsidiary Legislation Supplement
on 04 Apr 2006

No. S 217

Legal Profession Act

(Chapter 161)

Legal Profession (Qualified Persons) (Amendment) Rules 2006

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 2(2) of the Legal Profession Act, the Minister for Law, after consultation with the Board of Legal Education, hereby makes the following Rules:

Citation and commencement

1. These Rules may be cited as the Legal Profession (Qualified Persons) (Amendment) Rules 2006 and shall come into operation on 7th April 2006.

New rule 9A

2. The Legal Profession (Qualified Persons) Rules (R 15) (referred to in these Rules as the principal Rules) are amended by inserting, immediately after rule 9, the following rule:

“Citizens and permanent residents of Singapore conferred degrees of Doctor of Jurisprudence by institutions in the United States of America

9A.—(1) Subject to rules 10 and 11, any citizen or permanent resident of Singapore who, on or after 1st January 2004, is conferred any of the degrees of Doctor of Jurisprudence by any of the institutions of higher learning in the United States of America, as specified in the Fifth Schedule, shall be a qualified person if he —

(a)	is a citizen or permanent resident of Singapore at the time he is conferred the degree;
(b)	has been ranked by that institution of higher learning as being amongst the highest 40%, in terms of academic performance, of the total number of the graduates in the same batch who have been conferred the degree specified in the Fifth Schedule in respect of that institution of higher learning; and
(c)	has obtained the Diploma in Singapore Law.

(2) For the purpose of paragraph (1)(b), all graduates in the same institution of higher learning who, in the same calendar year, commenced the final year of their course of study leading to the degree specified in the Fifth Schedule shall be regarded as belonging to the same batch.”.

Amendment of rule 10

3. Rule 10 of the principal Rules is amended —

(a)

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

“(4) Except as otherwise approved by the Board, no person who has been conferred the degree of Doctor of Jurisprudence by any institution of higher learning in the United States of America shall become a qualified person under rule 9A if he had not read the course leading to that degree as a full-time internal candidate of that institution of higher learning.”; and

(b)

by deleting the words “and 9” in the rule heading and substituting the words “, 9 and 9A”.

Amendment of rule 11

4. Rule 11 of the principal Rules is amended —

(a)

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

“(3) Except as otherwise approved by the Board, no person who has been conferred the degree of Doctor of Jurisprudence by any institution of higher learning in the United States of America shall become a qualified person under rule 9A if —

(a)	the course of study that led to that degree was an accelerated course; or
(b)	the course of study that led to that degree was a dual degree course and the degree of Doctor of Jurisprudence is a component of dual degrees conferred on that person.”; and

(b)

by deleting the words “and 9” in the rule heading and substituting the words “, 9 and 9A”.

Amendment of rule 12

5. Rule 12 of the principal Rules is amended —

(a)	by deleting the words “and 9” and substituting the words “, 9 and 9A”; and
(b)	by deleting the words “or Fourth Schedule” and substituting the words “, Fourth or Fifth Schedule”.

Amendment of rule 15

6. Rule 15 of the principal Rules is amended by deleting the words “rules 10 (1) and (3), 11 (1)” in paragraph (1) and in the rule heading and substituting in each case the words “rules 10 (1), (3) and (4), 11 (1) and (3)”.

New Fifth Schedule

7. The principal Rules are amended by inserting, immediately after the Fourth Schedule, the following Schedule:

“FIFTH SCHEDULE

Rules 9A and 12

Institutions of Higher Learning and Degrees in Law Conferred

Country

Institution

Degree

United States of America

1. Harvard University

Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.)

2. Columbia University

Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.)

3. New York University

Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.)

4. University of Michigan

Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.).”.

[G.N. Nos. S 348/2003; S 145/2004; S 493/2005]

Made this 31st day of March 2006.

CHAN LAI FUNG

Permanent Secretary,
Ministry of Law,
Singapore.

[LAW 34/006/010 V4; AG/LEG/SL/161/2002/1 Vol. 4]

(To be presented to Parliament under section 131 of the Legal Profession Act).

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