Description

Synopsis

The Singapore Legal Service plays a critical role in upholding the rule of law and advancing Singapore’s interests. Legal Service Officers (LSOs), who are appointed by the Legal Service Commission, perform a multitude of critical roles in supporting the Government and statutory boards in the discharge of their functions. As an LSO, you may serve as a Deputy Public Prosecutor in the Crime Division of the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), or a State Counsel in the Advocacy Group, the Civil Division, the International Affairs Division or the Legislation Division of the AGC, or a Legal Counsel in a Ministry HQ or statutory board. A career with the Singapore Legal Service provides numerous opportunities and wide exposure to a broad spectrum of challenging and interesting work, and will enable you to directly participate in the administration of justice, advance the rule of law in Singapore, and serve and protect the interests of the public and the nation. The work will stretch your abilities, offer a sense of achievement and fulfilment, and have a positive impact on society.

Come and hear from a panel of LSOs who will share on their experience and practice in some of the different areas of law in the Singapore Legal Service, including prosecution and fighting white-collar crimes; providing legal services in a statutory board; civil legal aid for the less privileged; international law; and work as a policy maker.

Programme

About the Speakers

Jeffrey Sim
Chief of Staff, Singapore Legal Service

Jeffrey graduated from the NUS Faculty of Law and was in private practice for 10 years before he joined the Singapore Legal Service in 2000, where he served in various judicial and legal positions in the then Subordinate Courts, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the National Environment Agency and the Attorney-General’s Chambers. He was appointed Chief of Staff, Singapore Legal Service in Jan 2022 when the Legal Service was reconstituted.

Jeffrey will give an introduction on the Legal Service and moderate during the Q & A session.

Tan Kiat Pheng
Chief Prosecutor, Crime Div, AGC

Kiat Pheng has been the Chief Prosecutor of the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) Crime Division since Jan 2019. He graduated from NUS Faculty of Law in 1993 and joined the Singapore Legal Service in 1994 when he was posted to the Legal Aid Bureau as Assistant Director of Legal Aid. In 1998 he was reposted to the Insolvency and Public Trustee’s Office as Assistant Official Assignee, Assistant Official Receiver and Assistant Public Trustee. In 2001 he was reposted to AGC Criminal Justice Division as Deputy Public Prosecutor and has been with AGC since. Kiat Pheng specialises in prosecuting white-collar crimes investigated by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, the Commercial Affairs Department and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Kiat Pheng will be speaking about his experience in the Legal Service, in particular, as a prosecutor in fighting white-collar crimes in Singapore.

Mohamed Faizal
2^nd Chief Prosecutor, Crime Div, AGC

Mohamed Faizal presently serves as 2^nd Chief Prosecutor at the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC). He joined the Singapore Legal Service in 2005 as a Justices’ Law Clerk. After a brief stint as an Assistant Registrar, he joined AGC as a Deputy Public Prosecutor in 2007. He remained at AGC until 2013, when he was seconded to the Singapore Medical Council as General Counsel & Director (Legal). He returned to AGC in 2015 and assumed his present post last year.

Faizal serves on numerous boards and committees including the NUS Law Advisory Council, the Criminal Procedure Code Rules Committee, the Singapore Academy of Law’s (SAL) Journal Advisory Committee and the SAL Ethics and Professional Standards Committee. He was also General Editor of “The Criminal Procedure Code of Singapore: Annotations and Commentary” and for many years co-authored the annual chapter on “Criminal Procedure, Evidence and Sentencing” in the SAL’s Annual Review of Cases. A graduate of the NUS Faculty of Law and Harvard Law School, Faizal was appointed Senior Counsel in 2020 and will be taking on an appointment as Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court in May this year.

Faizal will be speaking about his experience in the Legal Service, in particular, as a prosecutor in AGC and on his experiences at a statutory board.

Lim Hui Min
Director, Legal Aid Bureau

Hui Min started work in a private law firm before joining the Singapore Legal Service, doing stints in the Civil Registry of the then Subordinate Courts of Singapore and the Family and Juvenile Court. She has also worked in the then Ministry of Community Development Youth and Sports (now Ministry of Social and Family Development), designing programmes to deliver social and work assistance to the less-privileged, and later, as the head of their legal department. She is currently the Director of the Legal Aid Bureau, which helps the less privileged get access to justice. The Bureau has launched a number of significant legal technology initiatives under Hui Min’s leadership. Hui Min has also authored and edited numerous publications on legal aid, civil and family procedure and family law. This includes the only book on the youth justice system in Singapore entitled “Youth Justice in Singapore – Rehabilitation, Reintegration, Restoration.

Hui Min will be speaking on civil legal aid for the less privileged – challenges, initiatives, rewarding moments and future plans.

Stephen Yeo
Second Director, Civil & Legislative Policy (Legal Policy Group), Ministry of Law

Stephen is Second Director of the Civil & Legislative Policy Division of the Legal Policy Group, Ministry of Law (MinLaw).

He was formerly a Deputy Public Prosecutor with the Attorney-General’s Chambers, and has been with MinLaw for the past 9 years. Since he joined MinLaw in late 2014, he has been involved in driving policy changes across a range of domains. These include reforms to criminal law and procedure, family justice, community justice, civil justice, and governance matters.

Stephen will be speaking on his experiences as a policy maker.

Seow Ai Lin
Deputy Senior State Counsel, International Affairs Div, AGC

Ai Lin is a Deputy Senior State Counsel in the International Affairs Division (IAD) of the Attorney-General’s Chambers. She provides legal advice to Government agencies on public international law issues and has been involved in international negotiations on maritime, aviation, security and trade matters. Her current work principally covers sea and air law issues. Before joining IAD, she started her career in a law firm practising commercial litigation and arbitration.

Ai Lin will speak about the range of work that legal officers in IAD do and the Government agencies IAD works with, sharing some examples of negotiations, advisory and international disputes work to show what it is like on the job to protect and advance Singapore’s interests through international law.