PRACTISING lawyers will have to attend courses throughout their careers to remain updated on changes to existing laws, under a compulsory scheme.

The Continuing Legal Education (CLE) programme is also meant to enable lawyers to become familiar with new and emerging areas of law.

Law Minister K. Shanmugam noted that CLE has been made compulsory in a number of Commonwealth countries as well as New York state in the United States. Currently, courses are organised by The Law Society and the Singapore Academy of Law, but are not compulsory.

A Law Society spokesman said it supported the move, saying it would 'ensure high standards of professional competence in the interests of the profession and the public'.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.