Update to Scheme to Allow Graduates with Second Class Lower Division Honours Degrees to Practise Law

31 MAR 2008

31 Mar 2008 Posted in Press releases

  1. At present, holders of Second Class Lower Division Honours or equivalent law degrees from Scheduled Universities who were full-time internal candidates must fulfil a three year legal work requirement in order to qualify to practise law in Singapore. The Government has accepted the recommendation of the Committee to Develop the Singapore Legal Sector to reduce the requirement to two years.

  2. The Ministry of Law and the Board of Legal Education (the “Board”) are pleased to announce that the Legal Profession (Qualified Persons) Rules (the “Rules”) have been amended to bring this into operation with effect from 1 April 2008.

  3. In view of this, candidates who are Singaporeans or Permanent Residents and who qualify under the Scheme will have to apply to the Board for an exemption under Rule 15A of the Rules. Candidates must do so by filling in the prescribed Form I that can be downloaded from the Board’s webpage at http://www.sile.org.sg. Please note that the 2-year work requirement must be fulfilled at the date of the application for an exemption.

  1. Candidates who wish to have their application processed in time for the August 2008 intake of NUS Diploma in Singapore Law course must on or before Monday, 14 April 2008 (the closing date):
    1. Submit completed Form I together with supporting documents to the Board; and
    2. Concurrently submit an application to NUS for admission to the NUS Diploma in Singapore Law course using the relevant forms that can be downloaded from https://law.nus.edu.sg/admissions/app_periods_forms.html
  1. Upon receiving the completed Form I together with supporting documents, the Board will process the applications and subsequently contact each candidate for an interview with the Board which will be conducted on Monday, 21 April 2008. The time and venue will be known at a later date.
  1. Successful candidates will be informed of the Board’s decision by Monday, 28 April 2008.
  1. In order to allow candidates eligible under the Scheme to enrol in the Diploma in Singapore Law course beginning in August 2008, the Faculty of Law, NUS will be extending the deadline for applications to the August 2008 intake to the Diploma in Singapore Law Course to 30 April 2008 (this extension is applicable only to the aforementioned candidates).
  1. For further information, please visit http://www.sile.org.sg.

Last updated on 28 Jan 2013