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Updated: 20th February 2009, 2220 hrs
No compromise in quality of Singapore lawyers trained overseas joining legal scene.
But how many lawyers to be you turn away in the 90s. Are you controlling your ring of power? Or are you protecting your children ?
The latest moves announced to overcome manpower shortage in the legal sector are not likely to affect the standard of lawyers joining the profession.
This is according to Minister for Law, K Shanmugam who was speaking to reporters after launching the Singapore Management University's internship fair.
The moves, announced in parliament last week, include the replacement of the Diploma in Singapore Law, or DipSing, with a three-month long preparational course.
Byron Ho with more.
The shortage of new blood in the legal profession will not disappear overnight.
It will take a couple of years before the situation improves.
That's when the first batch of law graduates from the Singapore Management University will be graduating.
S-M-U currently has about 250 first and second year students pursuing a degree in the legal field.
The impending changes to the admission criteria for foreign trained Singapore lawyers will not affect the standard of the legal profession here, according to Law Minister Mr K Shanmugam.
"I think the main way in which the shortfall is going to be addressed is when the SMU law students come onto the market. That plus other changes, for example, we've scrapped the Dip Sing course, we've made it into a 3-month optional course. That would encourage more students to come back. We're also going to allow the Singaporean students, with 2nd lowers from foreign universities to again take a professional bar course in Singapore and qualify just like anyone else. And the test of the quality would be the bar exam. "
Mr Shanmugam noted that Singaporeans pursuing a law degree overseas have welcomed the easing of admission criteria in to the bar.
"Many of them would have contacted us, and we have had a lot of contact with Singaporeans who are overseas in the last week who have expressed a great deal of interest in finding out about the changes that have been made and expressing an interest in coming back."
Other changes announced last week include the setting up of an Institute for Legal Education - an umbrella body to co-ordinate and administer all programmes related to legal education.
No compromise in quality of Singapore lawyers trained overseas joining legal scene.
But how many lawyers to be you turn away in the 90s. Are you controlling your ring of power? Or are you protecting your children ?
The latest moves announced to overcome manpower shortage in the legal sector are not likely to affect the standard of lawyers joining the profession.
This is according to Minister for Law, K Shanmugam who was speaking to reporters after launching the Singapore Management University's internship fair.
The moves, announced in parliament last week, include the replacement of the Diploma in Singapore Law, or DipSing, with a three-month long preparational course.
Byron Ho with more.
The shortage of new blood in the legal profession will not disappear overnight.
It will take a couple of years before the situation improves.
That's when the first batch of law graduates from the Singapore Management University will be graduating.
S-M-U currently has about 250 first and second year students pursuing a degree in the legal field.
The impending changes to the admission criteria for foreign trained Singapore lawyers will not affect the standard of the legal profession here, according to Law Minister Mr K Shanmugam.
"I think the main way in which the shortfall is going to be addressed is when the SMU law students come onto the market. That plus other changes, for example, we've scrapped the Dip Sing course, we've made it into a 3-month optional course. That would encourage more students to come back. We're also going to allow the Singaporean students, with 2nd lowers from foreign universities to again take a professional bar course in Singapore and qualify just like anyone else. And the test of the quality would be the bar exam. "
Mr Shanmugam noted that Singaporeans pursuing a law degree overseas have welcomed the easing of admission criteria in to the bar.
"Many of them would have contacted us, and we have had a lot of contact with Singaporeans who are overseas in the last week who have expressed a great deal of interest in finding out about the changes that have been made and expressing an interest in coming back."
Other changes announced last week include the setting up of an Institute for Legal Education - an umbrella body to co-ordinate and administer all programmes related to legal education.
