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 ©The
Straits Times, Singapore (Used by permission)
by K.C. Vijayan, Law Correspondent
Number of programmes to increase as continuing legal
education is made compulsory for lawyers
NOW that continuing education for lawyers is to become compulsory, the Singapore
Academy of Law (SAL) will be increasing its training programmes.
SAL, the umbrella membership body of the legal fraternity, already conducts
courses on continuing legal education (CLE), but attendance, like that at
courses organised by other legal bodies, is voluntary.
This is set to change following a report by the Committee to Develop the Legal
Services Sector, published earlier this month, which the Government has accepted
in principle.
The report said compulsory CLE in Singapore was 'long overdue' to keep lawyers
updated on new developments in the ever-changing legal landscape.
It noted that CLE is compulsory in, for example, Britain, the United States and
Australia. It also recommended the scheme be regulated and administered by a new
Institute of Legal Education.
Continuing-education courses are already part of professional licensing
requirements for doctors, accountants and pharmacists 'who are all required to
participate regularly in continuing-education activities', the report said.
A SAL spokesman said the full details of SAL's role in relation to the new
Institute of Legal Education and other legal education providers are still being
worked out.
To help meet the challenges ahead for SAL, Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, who is
also the academy's president, wants pay structures reviewed to draw talent
needed to design its various programmes and initiatives.
Interviewed in its latest annual report issued earlier this week, CJChan said
the 'challenge now is how to create a strong identity and esprit de corps among
lawyers and how to put into their hands strong tools that can help them keep up
with the law'.
This was unlike one problem in the past when older members had not been happy to
see SAL formed and 'were suspicious' of the motives for its formation, said
CJChan.
But members have now begun to see the value of an institution like SAL, he
added.
A Law Society spokesman said there were concerns 20 years ago that SAL would
displace its role but it should be clear to all today that they both play
'important and complementary roles'.
To meet the new challenges, CJChan said the academy needs very good people in
the Directorate who are interested in designing initiatives and programmes that
can add a lot of value to the work of the profession.
Noting that the job market is tight, he said pay structures had to become more
attractive to provide rewarding long-term careers in the academy.
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