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25-02-2015, 04:40 PM
An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:
SINGAPORE — Following warnings of a looming glut of lawyers here because of a surge in the number of Singaporeans heading overseas to read law, nearly half of the 19 United Kingdom law schools recognised for admission to the Singapore Bar will be dropped next year.
The decision to cut eight UK law schools from the list of overseas scheduled universities (OSUs) follows a review by the Singapore Institute of Legal Education (SILE), which was called for by a high-powered committee in 2013 to ensure the quality of returning UK graduates.
The number of OSUs has remained at 35 since 2006, including universities from the UK, Australia, New Zealand, America and Singapore.
In a press release yesterday, the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) said it had accepted the SILE’s recommendation, adding that the reduced list of 27 OSUswould apply to prospective intakes from Academic Year 2016/17.
The schools dropped are all from the UK: University of Exeter, University of Leeds, University of Leicester, University of Liverpool, School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London), University of Manchester, University of Sheffield and University of Southampton.
MinLaw said: “Transitional provisions will be put in place to ensure Singapore citizens and permanent residents who have secured a place before the relevant cut-off date in any of the UK OSUs omitted from the list are not adversely affected by the change.” The ministry and SILE are still working out the provisions.
Based on estimates obtained from Contact Singapore that the fourth Committee on the Supply of Lawyers cited in its 2013 report, the eight schools accounted for 30 per cent, or 221, of the 729 Singaporean law graduates from the UK in the past three years.
In calling for a five-yearly review of the list of OSUs, the committee — chaired by then Judge of Appeal V K Rajah — noted the burgeoning number of Singaporeans studying to be lawyers in the UK. “If left unchecked, there could be concerns that the increase in absolute numbers will be accompanied by a widening disparity in the fitness of UK OSU law graduates for the rigours of practice,” the committee said.
While the list was introduced as a “quantitative scythe” to control the number of new entrants to Singapore’s legal market, an update and refresh was needed “so it can better fulfil its present function as a qualitative sieve” that offers the public a general assurance of the competence of overseas-trained law graduates, it added.
In its release, MinLaw said the review by the SILE took into consideration the committee’s recommended methodology for reviewing the OSU list, which was based on a basket of updated UK law-school rankings based on recent data, as well as representations from the universities that could be omitted.
To minimise the risk of error, the committee proposed using the ranking over three years by three UK broadsheets: The Times Good University Guide, The Guardian University Guide and the Complete University Guide.
Last August, Law Minister K Shanmugam weighed in on the issue of the growing number of overseas Singaporean law undergraduates. With about 80 per cent of them returning to practise here, he warned that aspiring lawyers should temper their expectations in terms of pay and job opportunities, in view of a possible oversupply.
The total number of Singaporeans reading law in the UK more than doubled to 1,142 between 2010 and 2013, based on MinLaw’s estimates. In addition, there were 386 Singaporeans pursuing a law degree in Australian universities in 2013. The UK and Australia are the main sources of returning law graduates.
In recent years, more law graduates from abroad have complained of difficulties in securing a practice training contract, a requirement for entry to the Bar, as most firms offer these to the 400 or so Singaporean law graduates.
Commenting on the move, some lawyers who returned from UK universities questioned the methodology for reviewing the list of OSUs, noting that the rankings were “very fluid”.
Ms Diana Ngiam, who graduated from Kings College London in 2010, said: “If the aim is to reduce the number of Singaporean students from the UK, I would suggest reverting to only allowing second-upper degree holders to qualify for admission to the Singapore Bar.”
The requirements were relaxed in 2009 — because of a crunch then — to qualify second-lower honours degree holders from recognised foreign universities for admission to the Bar.
Mr Josephus Tan, a graduate from the University of Southampton’s class of 2007, said the shorter list is “a good immediate measure of sorts where numbers of lawyers are concerned”.
“The longer-term solution is to ... raise awareness among the young that the study of law should not equate to the practice of law. It is a discipline that can be useful in other industries.”
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.sammyboy.com/showthread.php?201406-Dealing-with-Oppositions-Lawyers&goto=newpost).
SINGAPORE — Following warnings of a looming glut of lawyers here because of a surge in the number of Singaporeans heading overseas to read law, nearly half of the 19 United Kingdom law schools recognised for admission to the Singapore Bar will be dropped next year.
The decision to cut eight UK law schools from the list of overseas scheduled universities (OSUs) follows a review by the Singapore Institute of Legal Education (SILE), which was called for by a high-powered committee in 2013 to ensure the quality of returning UK graduates.
The number of OSUs has remained at 35 since 2006, including universities from the UK, Australia, New Zealand, America and Singapore.
In a press release yesterday, the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) said it had accepted the SILE’s recommendation, adding that the reduced list of 27 OSUswould apply to prospective intakes from Academic Year 2016/17.
The schools dropped are all from the UK: University of Exeter, University of Leeds, University of Leicester, University of Liverpool, School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London), University of Manchester, University of Sheffield and University of Southampton.
MinLaw said: “Transitional provisions will be put in place to ensure Singapore citizens and permanent residents who have secured a place before the relevant cut-off date in any of the UK OSUs omitted from the list are not adversely affected by the change.” The ministry and SILE are still working out the provisions.
Based on estimates obtained from Contact Singapore that the fourth Committee on the Supply of Lawyers cited in its 2013 report, the eight schools accounted for 30 per cent, or 221, of the 729 Singaporean law graduates from the UK in the past three years.
In calling for a five-yearly review of the list of OSUs, the committee — chaired by then Judge of Appeal V K Rajah — noted the burgeoning number of Singaporeans studying to be lawyers in the UK. “If left unchecked, there could be concerns that the increase in absolute numbers will be accompanied by a widening disparity in the fitness of UK OSU law graduates for the rigours of practice,” the committee said.
While the list was introduced as a “quantitative scythe” to control the number of new entrants to Singapore’s legal market, an update and refresh was needed “so it can better fulfil its present function as a qualitative sieve” that offers the public a general assurance of the competence of overseas-trained law graduates, it added.
In its release, MinLaw said the review by the SILE took into consideration the committee’s recommended methodology for reviewing the OSU list, which was based on a basket of updated UK law-school rankings based on recent data, as well as representations from the universities that could be omitted.
To minimise the risk of error, the committee proposed using the ranking over three years by three UK broadsheets: The Times Good University Guide, The Guardian University Guide and the Complete University Guide.
Last August, Law Minister K Shanmugam weighed in on the issue of the growing number of overseas Singaporean law undergraduates. With about 80 per cent of them returning to practise here, he warned that aspiring lawyers should temper their expectations in terms of pay and job opportunities, in view of a possible oversupply.
The total number of Singaporeans reading law in the UK more than doubled to 1,142 between 2010 and 2013, based on MinLaw’s estimates. In addition, there were 386 Singaporeans pursuing a law degree in Australian universities in 2013. The UK and Australia are the main sources of returning law graduates.
In recent years, more law graduates from abroad have complained of difficulties in securing a practice training contract, a requirement for entry to the Bar, as most firms offer these to the 400 or so Singaporean law graduates.
Commenting on the move, some lawyers who returned from UK universities questioned the methodology for reviewing the list of OSUs, noting that the rankings were “very fluid”.
Ms Diana Ngiam, who graduated from Kings College London in 2010, said: “If the aim is to reduce the number of Singaporean students from the UK, I would suggest reverting to only allowing second-upper degree holders to qualify for admission to the Singapore Bar.”
The requirements were relaxed in 2009 — because of a crunch then — to qualify second-lower honours degree holders from recognised foreign universities for admission to the Bar.
Mr Josephus Tan, a graduate from the University of Southampton’s class of 2007, said the shorter list is “a good immediate measure of sorts where numbers of lawyers are concerned”.
“The longer-term solution is to ... raise awareness among the young that the study of law should not equate to the practice of law. It is a discipline that can be useful in other industries.”
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.sammyboy.com/showthread.php?201406-Dealing-with-Oppositions-Lawyers&goto=newpost).