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SINGAPORE'S Law Society has replied to criticism from the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute that it does not speak out enough on law reform issues here.
It does, said the society, on issues the government refers to it. It has been consulted in at least 30 instances in the last three years. Examples it cited included proposed amendments to the Securities and Futures Act and the Financial Advisers Act in 2006, and the proposed amendments to the Penal Code in 2007.
The Law Society issued its statement after its executive council, headed by Senior Counsel Michael Hwang, met yesterday.
In essence, the society said the Human Rights Institute's comments, made in a report issued on Wednesday, were based on 'an incomplete appreciation of the position of the society and its relationship with the Government'.
A self-regulatory body for the 3,500 practising lawyers in Singapore, the society's powers are governed by the Legal Profession Act, in particular Section 38(1)(c).
The latter is 'commonly interpreted to mean it does not have the statutory right to comment on matters not submitted to it,' said the society. The current shape of Section 38 dates back to 1986, after the government curbed the society's powers to comment on legislation by limiting them to 'legislation submitted to it'.
The society had irked the Government with its criticisms on laws curbing foreign publications that comment negatively on domestic politics.
Read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times
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