Six trainee lawyers' admission to the legal profession has been delayed as a result of cheating on the 2020 qualifying Bar examinations, including in a paper on ethics and professional responsibility.
Justice Choo Han Teck stated in his grounds of judgment announced on Monday (Apr 18) that he is withholding the names of the six "in the hope that they would not be prejudiced in the long term."
To practice law in Singapore, law graduates must complete a series of exams referred to as Part B. Graduates of authorized foreign law schools must also sit for a separate conversion test called as Part A.
To be admitted, the Attorney-General, the Singapore Institute of Legal Education (SILE), and the Law Society of Singapore must not oppose to the application.
During last week's hearing, the Attorney-General opposed to the trainee lawyers' petitions, claiming they lacked honesty and integrity as a result of cheating on the Part B tests.
Five of them used WhatsApp to exchange answers to six of the questions, while the sixth conspired with another candidate to cheat on three of the papers.
The final one attempted to explain that "her responses were identical to those of the other individual since they studied together and exchanged study notes," Justice Choo stated.
However, SILE rejected this explanation since her responses were not only comparable but also featured the same "pattern of faults," as the judge put it. No charges were filed against the other candidate with whom she collaborated.
Five were ordered to retake the six papers in which they cheated, while the sixth was ordered to retake the entire Part B course.
This was because, unlike the five, she had rejected her crime and maintained her innocence, according to Justice Choo.
Each of the six has since passed the appropriate examinations.
Justice Choo ordered a six-month delay for the five trainee attorneys' bar petitions, and a one-year adjournment for the last trainee lawyer's application.
This followed a recommendation by the Attorney-counsel, General's who believed that allowing trainee attorneys additional time to reflect on their errors would benefit them.
Justice Choo highlighted that the majority of the six had trained in prestigious law firms, including two international offshore companies based in Singapore, and that all but one were now employed as legal executives.
He stated that courts had a responsibility to prevent future misconduct "without crushing the backs of children in the process."
He noted that the admissions of cheating prompted issues about whether "a culture of cheating was emerging in the applicant's early levels of schooling."
"This profession places a premium on honesty, and it is prudent to avoid faltering due to a lack of it from the start," Justice Choo stated.
"That is, even embryonic lawyers — law students – must be trustworthy."
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