ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
Commencing in 2014, all law students from NUS, SMU and SUSS must complete 20 hours of approved pro bono work as a graduating requirement. This pro bono work must fulfill the criteria and requirements prescribed by the Singapore Institute of Legal Education ("SILE"). The Centre administers NUS Law’s mandatory pro bono programme, under which students complete their 20 hours of approved pro bono work. This work must be undertaken after students have completed their first year of law school.
WHAT ARE LC2009 AND LCJ5009?
In NUS Law, students must complete their mandatory pro bono requirements (by completing 20 hours of SILE approved pro bono work) via the course LC2009 – Pro Bono Service (for LLB students) and LCJ5009 (for JD students). Both courses are administered by the Centre. All students enrolled under the NUS LLB (Hons) and JD degrees must complete and pass the course as a prerequisite for the award of the degree. LC2009/LCJ5009 is not a requirement for the award of the NUS LLM.
LC2009/LCJ5009 is a Pass / Fail course, which does not carry any units of academic credit. Whilst students may participate in SILE approved pro bono work through various student groups, or initiate such activities on their own, the Centre also provides many different opportunities for fulfilling these hours. These pro bono opportunities can be accessed via TalentConnect.
IMPORTANT TIMELINES
LC2009/LCJ5009 (“Pro Bono Module”) becomes available to all Year 1 students from Week 2 of Semester 2 in every Academic Year. Students must fulfil 20 Mandatory Pro Bono Hours (MPBH) as part of their graduating requirements under the LLB/JD programme.
Generally, a student can start clocking Mandatory Pro Bono Hours (MPBH) after completing their first year of study at NUS Law, i.e., from 15 May onwards, provided that the student first successfully passes the e-quiz in CANVAS (the required passing rate is 100%) before participating in an activity that is eligible for MPBH. Any hours clocked before the student completes their first year of study, or before the student successfully passes the e-quiz, will be considered as Voluntary Pro Bono Hours (VPBH) which will not count towards MPBH for graduation.
As opportunities for clocking MPBH may not be available at a time of choosing, students are strongly encouraged to complete their MPBH requirement, and have their MPBH recorded in TalentConnect, as early as possible, by the end of their second year of study in law school.
For more information, you are encouraged to visit the course page of LC2009/LCJ5009 on NUS Canvas.
For general queries, please email the Centre at probono@nus.edu.sg.
For queries on MPBH status, please email probonohours@nus.edu.sg