Admission Requirements

Admission Requirements

Admission Requirements

[Announcement (11 July 2024): The Ministry of Law, in consultation with the members of the Working Group for the Implementation of the Recommendations of the Committee for the Professional Training of Lawyers, has prepared infographics to provide guidance on the savings and transitional arrangements available and the various deadlines required to be met in order to seek admission under the old law. Affected candidates may also wish to refer to section 48 of the Legal Profession (Amendment) Act 2023 and the Legal Profession (Amendment) (Transitional Provisions for Admission) Regulations 2024 for more details.]

[Announcement (3 October 2023): The Singapore Institute of Legal Education (SILE) has published a notice setting out information on the implementation of the changes to the admission regime as recommended by the Committee for the Professional Training of Lawyers. Please refer to SILE's website for more information.]

[ANNOUNCEMENT (27 February 2023): The Ministry of Law has announced that the implementation of the new professional training regime for lawyers, as recommended by the Committee for the Professional Training of Lawyers, will be deferred and will apply from the 2024 session of Part B of the Singapore Bar Examinations onwards. For more information about this, please refer to our press release.]

[ANNOUNCEMENT (30 August 2018): The Ministry of Law has accepted in principle the recommendations of the Committee for the Professional Training of Lawyers, and will work with stakeholders, including the Law Society of Singapore and the Singapore Institute of Legal Education, on the implementation of the recommendations. Under the new regime, qualified persons who pass Part B of the Singapore Bar Examinations from the 2023 session onwards will be called to the Bar after passing Part B; if they wish to practise law, they will need to complete a 12-month training contract before they can obtain a practising certificate. For more information about this and the other recommendations, please refer to the Committee’s report and our press release.]

Please refer to the website of the Singapore Institute of Legal Education (SILE) for more information on the “qualified person” and admission requirements, degree and university requirements, Part A and Part B of the Singapore Bar Examinations, relevant legal training and/or work, the practice training period, the admission/call procedure, and the Foreign Practitioner Examinations (FPE).

Individuals who wish to be admitted to the Singapore Bar must:

  1. Meet all the requirements of being a “qualified person” as defined in the Legal Profession Act read together with the Legal Profession (Qualified Persons) Rules; and

  2. Fulfil the other "admission requirements setout in Sections 12 and 13 of the Legal Profession Act read together with the "Legal Profession (Admission) Rules 2011:

    1. You have attained the age of 21 years;

    2. You are of good character;

    3. You have satisfactorily served the practice training periodpractice training period applicable to you (please refer to Rules 14-23 of the Legal Profession (Admission) Rules 2011);

    4. You have attended and satisfactorily completed such courses of instructions as the Board of Directors of Singapore Institute of Legal Education (SILE) may prescribe under section 10 (please refer to Rule 3 of the Legal Profession (Admission) Rules; and

    5. You have passed such examinations as the Board of Directors of the Institute SILE may prescribe under section 10 (please refer to Rules 4 and 5 of the Legal Profession (Admission) Rules 2011.

  3. Last updated on 15 Aug 2023

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Relevant Legislation