Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules 2015

PART 1

PRELIMINARY

Citation and commencement

1. These Rules may be cited as the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules 2015 and come into operation on 18 November 2015.

Definitions

2.—(1) In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires —

“child representative” means a child representative appointed, under Division 1 of Part 4 of the Family Justice Rules 2014 (G.N. No. S 813/2014), to represent the interests of a child in any proceedings involving the child, or the custody and welfare of the child;

[S 82/2018 wef 12/02/2018]

“client account” and “client’s money” have the same meanings as in rule 2(1) of the Legal Profession (Solicitors’ Accounts) Rules (R 8);

“conveyancing money” has the same meaning as in rule 2(2) of the Conveyancing and Law of Property (Conveyancing) Rules 2011 (G.N. No. S 391/2011);

“court” means any court of competent jurisdiction in Singapore;

“debt collection business” means a business the principal operations of which relate to the collection of debts, but does not include either of the following:

(a)	any business carried out by a legal practitioner as a trustee in bankruptcy, or as a nominee in a voluntary arrangement relating to a debtor who is an individual;
(b)	any business in the nature, or that is part, of a factoring arrangement or receivables financing arrangement;

“dispute resolution proceedings” has the same meaning as in section 5B of the Civil Law Act (Cap. 43);

[S 69/2017 wef 01/03/2017]

“family proceedings” has the same meaning as in section 2(1) of the Family Justice Act 2014 (Act 27 of 2014);

[S 82/2018 wef 12/02/2018]

“funded party” has the same meaning as in section 5B of the Civil Law Act;

[S 69/2017 wef 01/03/2017]

“immediate family member” means a spouse, child, grandchild, sibling, sibling’s child, parent or grandparent;

“law practice” means any law practice entity other than a representative office;

“parenting coordinator” means a parenting coordinator appointed by the court to manage and facilitate the resolution of disputes relating to the custody of, access to and welfare of a child, for instance, by educating and providing guidance to the parents of the child, and by making recommendations to the court (when required);

[S 82/2018 wef 12/02/2018]

“publicity” means any form of advertisement, and includes any advertisement that —

(a)	is printed or contained in any medium for the communication of information; or
(b)	appears in, or is communicated through or retrievable from, any mass medium (electronic or otherwise) or the Internet,

and “publicise”, “publicised” and “publicising” are to be construed accordingly;

“relevant appeal” and “relevant proceedings” have the same meanings as in section 36O(1) of the Act;

“Third-Party Funder” has the same meaning as in section 5B of the Civil Law Act;

[S 69/2017 wef 01/03/2017]

“third-party funding contract” has the same meaning as in section 5B of the Civil Law Act;

[S 69/2017 wef 01/03/2017]

“tribunal” means any judicial, quasi-judicial, administrative or regulatory body or authority in Singapore, or any tribunal in Singapore that is established by law, and includes any of the following:

(a)	any commission of inquiry or committee of inquiry appointed under the Inquiries Act (Cap. 139A), or any committee of inquiry or board of inquiry appointed under any other written law;
(b)	any Industrial Arbitration Court or the President, Deputy President, Registrar, Deputy Registrar or Assistant Registrar of the Industrial Arbitration Court appointed under the Industrial Relations Act (Cap. 136), a conciliation officer or referee appointed under the Industrial Relations Act, or the Commissioner for Labour, a Deputy Commissioner for Labour, a Principal Assistant Commissioner for Labour or an Assistant Commissioner for Labour appointed under the Employment Act (Cap. 91);
(c)	any professional disciplinary body;
(d)	any arbitral tribunal as defined in section 2(1) of the Arbitration Act (Cap. 10) or section 2(1) of the International Arbitration Act (Cap. 143A);

“unauthorised person” has the same meaning as in section 32(2) of the Act.

(2) In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires —

(a)	a reference to an employee of a Singapore law practice includes a reference to a locum solicitor engaged by the Singapore law practice; and
(b)	a reference to a member of a Singapore law practice includes a reference to a locum solicitor engaged by the Singapore law practice.

Application of Parts 2 to 5

3.—(1) Part 2 applies to the following legal practitioners:

(a)	every solicitor who has in force a practising certificate or is registered under section 36F of the Act;
(b)	every person admitted under section 15 of the Act;
(c)	every regulated foreign lawyer.

(2) Division 1 of Part 3, insofar as it relates to any relevant proceedings or relevant appeal, applies to the following legal practitioners:

(a)	every solicitor who has in force a practising certificate;
(b)	every person admitted under section 15 of the Act;
(c)	every regulated foreign lawyer who is registered under section 36P of the Act.

(3) Division 1 of Part 3, insofar as it relates to any proceedings before a court (other than any relevant proceedings or relevant appeal), applies to the following legal practitioners:

(a)	every solicitor who has in force a practising certificate;
(b)	every person admitted under section 15 of the Act.

(4) Except as otherwise provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), Part 3 applies to the following legal practitioners:

(a)	every solicitor who has in force a practising certificate or is registered under section 36F of the Act;
(b)	every person admitted under section 15 of the Act;
(c)	every foreign lawyer who is registered under section 36B of the Act.

(5) Division 2 of Part 3 applies —

(a)

to every Singapore law practice; and

(b)

to the following law practices, in connection with the practice of Singapore law:

(i)	every Joint Law Venture;
(ii)	every Formal Law Alliance;
(iii)	every Qualifying Foreign Law Practice;
(iv)	every licensed foreign law practice.

(6) Part 4 applies to every law practice.

(7) Part 5 applies —

(a)

to the following legal practitioners:

(i)	every solicitor who has in force a practising certificate or is registered under section 36F of the Act;
(ii)	every person admitted under section 15 of the Act;
(iii)	every foreign lawyer who is registered under section 36B of the Act;

(b)

to every Singapore law practice; and

(c)

to the following law practices, in connection with the practice of Singapore law:

(i)	every Joint Law Venture;
(ii)	every Formal Law Alliance;
(iii)	every Qualifying Foreign Law Practice;
(iv)	every licensed foreign law practice.

(8) Part 5A applies —

(a)

to the following legal practitioners:

(i)	every solicitor who has in force a practising certificate or is registered under section 36F of the Act;
(ii)	every person admitted under section 15 of the Act;
(iii)	every regulated foreign lawyer;

(b)

to every Singapore law practice; and

(c)

to every other law practice licensed under the Act.

[S 69/2017 wef 01/03/2017]

Principles guiding interpretation of these Rules

4. The following principles guide the interpretation of these Rules.

Principles

(a)	A legal practitioner has a paramount duty to the court, which takes precedence over the legal practitioner’s duty to the legal practitioner’s client.

(b)	A legal practitioner’s duty to the legal practitioner’s client is subject only to the legal practitioner’s duty to the court, and must at all times be fulfilled in a manner that upholds the standing and integrity of the Singapore legal system and the legal profession in Singapore.

(c)	A legal practitioner has a duty to discharge honourably and with integrity all of the legal practitioner’s responsibilities to any tribunal before which the legal practitioner appears, the legal practitioner’s clients, the public and other members of the legal profession.

(d)	A legal practitioner must uphold the laws of Singapore in the legal practitioner’s practice.

(e)	A legal practitioner must facilitate the access of members of the public to justice.

(f)	A legal practitioner must be fair and courteous towards every person in respect of the legal practitioner’s professional conduct.

(g)

A legal practitioner must ensure that the legal practitioner’s professional conduct is always consistent with the values of the legal profession in each jurisdiction in which the legal practitioner is qualified to practise law and, when giving advice in any other jurisdiction, the values of the legal profession in that other jurisdiction.

(h)	A legal practitioner must keep up to date with all pertinent developments in the law in the legal practitioner’s area of practice.

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