Mixed response to proposal for third law school

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http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/mixed-response-proposal-third-law-school

A proposal to set up a third law school in Singapore to address the shortage of community lawyers has received mixed response from the Association of Criminal Lawyers.

Its president Subhas Anandan believes the problem can be addressed through other ways and the third law school should only be considered a last resort.

The Fourth Committee on the Supply of Lawyers, led by Judge of Appeal Justice VK Rajah which released its report yesterday (May 28), observed that there’s a shortage of lawyers practising community law which includes family law and criminal law.

The report said that if no measures are taken to address the situation, the shortage will be exacerbated.

But president of the Association of Criminal Lawyers Subhas Anandan said the solution is not found in having another law school.

“You think of a third university because there is a shortage of people, in two years’ time you see shipping or insurance having a shortage, are you going to have a fourth university to fill the problem? That’s not the solution.

“Criminal law and family law, the fees you can charge is very little. We are dealing with ordinary man in the street who has committed some offence, he may not have the money to pay. What is there to ensure that those who go through this third university will practise criminal law because they go through all the exams, they are admitted to the Bar and they are not precluded from doing other things?

“To me, criminal law is a passion that you enjoy doing it, you don’t care for the money, you believe in protecting a person’s liberty, his life, so you have the passion. You cannot instil passion in the people. So what you have to do is try and throw them into the pool and hope that after a few years, they will enjoy it and they will have the passion.

“You can choose a few students and tell them we will give you a scholarship, we will give you incentives, provided you come out of graduation and you do three or four years of criminal law or community law, and what we hope is that after three to four years after doing criminal law, they might get a passion for it, they might enjoy it and out of ten pupils you get three or four thinking, that way you have already achieved your target."