Ministry of Law

MinLaw advances access to justice and the rule of law in Singapore, and supports the development of our economy and society. Our vision is to build "A Trusted Legal System; A Trusted Singapore". The following are our key initiatives.

We ensure that our laws remain relevant and adequate to address the challenges of modern society. In March 2014, Parliament passed a new Protection from Harassment Act to better protect people from harassment and stalking. In criminal law, we are working with MHA to rationalise offences relating to homicide and bodily hurt in the Penal Code, including the punishment for such offences, and whether and to what extent mentally disabled offenders should be dealt with differently. Thereafter, we intend to undertake a review of the Criminal Procedure Code to, among other things, develop a plea bargaining framework for early resolution of criminal cases.

Together with the Courts and MSF, we are also studying how to transform the family justice eco-system. We are reviewing the family court structure and working on reforms to promote parties' access to family justice. We will focus on developing a dispute resolution system that is less adversarial, places greater emphasis on counselling and consensual outcomes, and where the child's best interests are appropriately addressed.

Strong legal institutions ensure that the law is implemented objectively, consistently and transparently. We will continue to work closely with the Courts to streamline court procedures to ensure that access to justice is not out of reach for the common man. We will also look to strengthen the enforcement of civil orders and judgement.

To bolster the Bar, we are establishing the UniSIM Law School to train lawyers who have a predisposition for criminal law and family practice. This will introduce a new pathway for mid-career individuals to join the legal profession. Separately, we will work to establish NUS and SMU as leading centres for legal education and research in Asia.

We are also modernising the regulatory regime of the legal sector. There will be a streamlined disciplinary framework with common professional conduct standards for Singapore-qualified and foreign-qualified lawyers practising in Singapore. We will form the Legal Services Regulatory Authority to oversee the regulation of law practice entities.

MinLaw advises Ministries on key issues to consider when translating policies into legislation. We will strengthen this advisory function and also cultivate better public

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awareness of the law to promote confidence and trust in our legal system. MinLaw will also advance Singapore's approach to the Rule of Law and contribute to discourse on international law issues. Singapore recently became a member of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, in order to help shape developments in this area.

We will develop Singapore to be a hub for the provision of legal services to the region and beyond. Singapore is well-positioned to be the preferred venue for dispute resolution in Asia. Building on our success in arbitration, the Singapore International Mediation Centre and the Singapore International Commercial Court will be established to provide an entire suite of dispute resolution services. We will support the growth of Singapore law firms into regional leaders, alongside the promotion of Singapore as a base for international law firms and in-house legal counsel that provide sophisticated services to the region. All these will create more opportunities for lawyers in Singapore.

Working with the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, we aim to develop Singapore into a hub for (a) IP transactions and management, (b) quality IP filings, and (c) IP dispute resolution. In line with this effort, we will undertake a broad review of Singapore's copyright regime to address new developments in technology and facilitate the growth of copyright related services.

Through the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), MinLaw strives to optimise the potential of state land and state properties to help meet Singapore's social and economic objectives. Clusters of properties will be thematically developed to meet under-served sectors of the economy. Greater flexibility on tenure will be introduced as well to support innovative uses.

We are also reviewing our legislative framework to facilitate the development of underground space and improve the land acquisition process to minimise the impact on affected land owners. Additionally, SLA is leading a Government effort to develop a high-resolution three-dimensional national topographic map to enhance urban planning, flood control, civil aviation control and other uses.

The Legal Aid Bureau extends civil legal aid to persons of limited means to ensure that citizens with deserving cases have access to justice. We will also start providing direct assistance to defendants of limited means in criminal cases through increased funding to the Law Society's Pro Bono Services Office to run its Criminal Legal Aid Scheme. We will also encourage the legal profession to better organise its pro bono efforts.

The Registries of Moneylenders and Pawnbrokers work to ensure that moneylenders and pawnbrokers are professionally run. We will be reviewing interest rate caps, loan quantum caps and fees charged by moneylenders, to strike a balance in ensuring access to

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credit, but not on unfair terms.

We will introduce a more rehabilitative regime that allows bankrupts to be discharged within clear time frames, without increasing the risk of moral hazard. This should encourage credit providers to undertake better risk assessment and borrowers to work responsibly towards clearing their debt. In parallel, we will update and unify the individual bankruptcy and corporate insolvency regimes into a single piece of legislation.

MinLaw encourages the use of mediation to resolve family and community disputes as it fosters better relationships between the parties. Together with MCCY, we will develop a legal framework to better manage community disputes, including the establishment of a Community Dispute Resolution Tribunal and introduction of mandatory mediation.

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