Relevant Legal Training / Relevant Legal Practice or Work

Overview

For graduates from overseas scheduled universities, one of the requirements to be a qualified person is that they must have, after passing the final examination for the approved law degree, received relevant legal training (“RLT”) or engaged in relevant legal practice (“RLP”) or relevant legal work (“RLW”).

RLT, RLP or RLW may be undertaken before, concurrently with, or after the Part A Examinations (including the Part A Course). No registration with the SILE is needed prior to commencing RLT, RLP or RLW.

The definitions of RLT, RLP and RLW are set out in Rule 2 of the Legal Profession (Qualified Persons) Rules.

Relevant Legal Training (“RLT”)

The definition of RLT is set out below:

1. any supervised training in relation to the practice of Singapore law received, prior to becoming a qualified person, under a formal training arrangement with a Singapore law practice;
2. any supervised training received, prior to becoming a qualified person, as a pupil, or through reading in the chambers, of a practising barrister of the United Kingdom or of a member of the Faculty of Advocates in Scotland of more than 7 years’ standing;
3. any supervised training in relation to the practice of foreign law received, prior to becoming a qualified person, under a formal training arrangement with a foreign law practice; or
4. any supervised training in relation to the practice of Singapore law —
   1. through working —
      1. as a Judicial Service Officer or a Legal Service Officer (or both); or
      2. under the supervision of a relevant legal officer (called in this paragraph a qualifying relevant legal officer) who is an advocate and solicitor of not less than 5 years’ standing and who, for a total of not less than 5 out of the 7 years immediately preceding the date of commencement of the supervised training, has been a relevant legal officer or has been in active practice in a Singapore law practice or both;
   2. through working under the supervision of 2 or more qualifying relevant legal officers; or
   3. partly through working as a Judicial Service Officer or a Legal Service Officer (or both) and partly through working under the supervision of one or more qualifying relevant legal officers.

Relevant Legal Practice (“RLP”) or Relevant Legal Work (“RLW”)

The definition of RLP and RLW is set out below:

1. active practice as –
   1. a legal practitioner, by whatever name called, in any jurisdiction other than Singapore; or
   2. a foreign lawyer in Singapore; or
2. work of a legal nature which is performed as a legal counsel in any corporation or other entity the equity securities of which are listed on the official list of a securities exchange in Singapore or elsewhere.

Duration & Calculation

Duration

Graduates must have received RLT or been engaged in RLP or RLW for a period of not less than 6 months within a continuous period of 8 months.

Calculation

When calculating RLT, RLP and RLW, only full or half days will be taken into account. Saturdays, Sundays and gazetted Public Holidays are included when computing the RLT, RLP and RLW.

RLT, RLP and RLW cannot start or end on a Saturday, Sunday or gazetted Public Holiday.

During the RLT, RLP and RLW, any day on which you are absent (such as taking medical leave, maternity leave, parental leave, marriage leave, compassionate leave, reservist, firm closures or any other form of leave provided by the organisation) is regarded as a non-working day, and these are not counted in the computation of RLT, RLP and RLW. For the avoidance of doubt, any non-working day taken in lieu of a Saturday that was a gazetted Public Holiday will not be counted as a non-working day.

Any day taken as a non-working day during RLT, RLP and RLW will have to be made up at the end of the training period, that is, the number of non-working days taken will be added to, and will extend the end date of the RLT, RLP and RLW by an equivalent number of working days.

When determining the end date of RLT, RLP and RLW due to making up for the non-working days, Saturdays, Sundays and gazetted Public Holidays cannot be counted. For example, if 2 non-working days were taken, then the training period will end 2 working days later than it would have if the 2 non-working days had not been taken.

You may combine different periods of RLT, RLP and RLW received at multiple organisations. However, the total duration must add up to 6 months and must be completed within a continuous period of 8 months.

For those who have been supervised or engaged in RLT, RLP and RLW for a period of more than 8 months, please note that you would only need to indicate an 8-month period from the start date of your RLT, RLP and RLW. As for the declaration of non-working days, you are to indicate the dates taken during that 8-month period.

Please note the following clarification on how the end date of your RLT, RLP and RLW is determined, particularly where Saturdays, Sundays, gazetted Public Holidays and non-working days are involved:

1. When there are no non-working days

If there are no non-working days and your last day of training falls on a Saturday, Sunday or gazetted Public Holiday, your official last day will be adjusted to the next working day. This is because RLT, RLP and RLW can only conclude on a working day. Please see Illustrations 1 and 2 below.

Illustration 1:

Philip commenced his RLT in a Singapore law practice on 10 November 2025 (Monday). He was granted an off-in-lieu on 20 March 2026 (Friday), in view of 21 March 2026 (Saturday) being a gazetted Public Holiday. There are no other non-working days during this period.

His calculation is as follows:

The official last day for Philip is 9 May 2026 (Saturday). As 9 May 2026 is a Saturday, his last day of RLT will be adjusted to 11 May 2026 (Monday).

Illustration 2:

Jacob passed his final examination for his LLB degree on 2 December 2025 (Tuesday) and commenced his RLT on 3 December 2025 (Wednesday) in a foreign law practice in the United Kingdom. There are no other non-working days during this period.

His calculation is as follows:

* Calculation is based on UK calendar.

Jacob’s last day of RLT is 2 June 2026 (Tuesday).

2. When there are non-working days

If you are required to make-up for non-working days, your calculated last day of RLT, RLP and RLW is allowed to fall on a Saturday, Sunday or gazetted Public Holiday immediately before the start of your make-up period. Your official RLT, RLP and RLW end date, inclusive of the make-up of non-working days, must fall on a working day. Please see Illustrations 1 and 2 below.

Illustration 1:

Ethel commenced her RLT in a Singapore law practice on 10 November 2025 (Monday). She took 5 non-working days.

Her calculation is as follows:

Ethel’s last day of RLT is 15 May 2026 (Friday) after taking into account the 5 non-working days.

Illustration 2:

Ben has been engaged in active practice in England and Wales as a solicitor in a London law firm since 16 February 2026 (Monday). He was admitted as a solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales on 13 February 2026 (Friday). There are 19 non-working days during his engagement in the law firm.

His calculation is as follows:

* Calculation is based on UK calendar.

Ben’s last day of RLP is 11 September 2026 (Friday) after taking into account the 19 non-working days.

Certification for Completion of RLT, RLP or RLW

Graduates are required to submit a certification of their completion of RLT, RLP or RLW. The templates for the certification letter are found here.