Admission to the Singapore Bar

Admission as Advocate and Solicitor

An eligible person may apply for admission as an advocate and solicitor after completing a practice training period. If you have been admitted as a Lawyer (NP), you are an eligible person.

The key requirements for admission as an advocate and solicitor include:

• being an eligible person; and
• serving a 12-month practice training period in accordance with the requirements of under the Legal Profession (Admission) Rules 2024 and the Practice Training Period Guidelines 2024.

Advocate and Solicitor Admission Process

To apply for admission as an advocate and solicitor, you will need to file an originating application for admission, under rule 42 of the Legal Profession (Admission) Rules 2024. A hearing date for the application will be fixed by the Supreme Court Registry. This date will be at least 60 days after the date of filing of the originating application.

You must also file an affidavit in support of your application for admission. The affidavit cannot be filed earlier than 30 days after the date on which you filed the originating application, nor can it be filed later than 21 days before the hearing date. Rule 42(4) of the Legal Profession (Admission) Rules 2024 sets out the requirements of the affidavit, which must include:

• A certificate from SILE stating that you have served the practice training period;
• The instrument of call as a lawyer (NP);
• Two recent certificates of good character; and
• A certificate or certificates of diligence.

The affidavit and the certificates must be in the form specified in the Admission Rules 2024 Forms page. Please refer to the Admission Rules 2024 Forms for instructions on which form to use.

A person who intends to object to your application for admission must file a notice of objection and serve it on the Attorney-General, the Law Society, the Institute and on you. This must be done not later than 30 days after the date on which you filed the application.

If the Attorney-General, the Law Society or the Institute intends to object to your application for admission, they must file a notice of objection and serve it on you. This must be done not less than 5 days before the hearing date.

If the Attorney-General, the Law Society or the Institute does not intend to object to your ap-plication for admission, each of these parties will serve a letter stating that it has no objections to the application on you. This must be done not less than 5 days before the hearing date.

For the purposes of determining whether to object to your application, the Attorney-General, the Law Society or the Institute may require you to provide additional information or documents (at your own expense), request for you to amend your affidavit to rectify any errors and apply for the application to be adjourned.

Admission under old admission framework

Please refer to the savings and transitional provisions under the Legal Profession (Amendment) Act 2023 and the Legal Profession (Admission) Rules 2024 to determine whether your circum-stances fall under the Legal Profession (Admission) Rules 2011 (the old framework). You may also refer to the Notice of New Admission Regime issued by SILE on 3 October 2023 and the Ministry of Law’s infographics for additional guidance.

Last Updated: 18 September 2024